Author Margaret Atwood has imagined a future society that imprisons law-abiding citizens ("The Heart Goes Last"), a post-apocalyptic world filled with genetically modified creatures ("Oryx and Crake") and, most famously, a theocracy that forces fertile women to bear children for the privileged ("The Handmaid's Tale").Now, however, she wants to shape a more positive vision of the future.

A Positive Vision of the Future

Next year, the Canadian novelist and poet will lead a new online course titled "Practical Utopias: An Exploration of the Possible." Addressing issues from social inequality to healthcare, the eight-week program will put participants in virtual classrooms with experts from various fields to develop solutions to society's biggest problems."I don't come with pre-formed answers," Atwood told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "The whole idea is that... people get together, consider the challenges facing us today and thrash them out."

A New Online Course

Hosted by online learning platform Disco, the course will see attendees join virtual seminars with the author. They will then take part in live workshops and develop "co-designed solutions" to present to Atwood, who was once <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/margaret-atwood-the-prophet-of-dystopia">dubbed</a> the "prophet of dystopia" by the New Yorker magazine. "We're going to be considering things like: What sort of clothing, what sort of food or what kind of houses (will we need)?" she said.

Virtual Seminars

"Our biggest challenge right now is the climate crisis... And we're going to have to be looking at costs and benefits, because there is no free lunch.""If you, for instance, decide that we're all going to have vertical gardens," she added, referring to the use of buildings and walls to grow plant life, "then what are you going to do about wind storms?"

A Biggest Challenge

Known for dark depictions of the near future, the author of "The Handmaid's Tale" is now leading an online course aimed at building a "practical utopia."

Discover the world of business and economics.

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Economics

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Personal Development

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Communication

Margaret Atwood made her name through dystopias. Now she wants to build a brighter future

Life is like a piano. The white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness. But as you go through life's journey, remember that the black keys also make music.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Life is like a piano...

Comparing how you feel on the inside – with your doubts and insecurities – to another person’s external success means you’ll only see their achievements and none of their own self-doubt.If you have imposter syndrome, you might relate to some of these behaviours.

5 signs of imposter syndrome and what you can do to manage self-doubt

<ol><li>Procrastination: We might put things off because we don't want to expose ourselves as a fraud or a failure.</li><li>Perfectionism: We keep striving to get it right so we can't be exposed.</li><li>Being a workaholic: We overcompensate by over-committing, so no one can tell us we're not good enough.</li><li>Avoidance or apathy: We lower our goals as a coping mechanism. If we don’t do well, we can then claim we didn’t really try, anyway.</li><li>Blaming others: We blame others when things go wrong, because our own failure would be devastating.</li></ol>

Around half of us – 51% of women and 47% of men – have felt imposter syndrome at some point, SEEK research reveals.Even someone who has objective success, such as running a business for 20 years, can have self-doubts about the value of what they’re offering, Read says.Imposter syndrome is most common among people working in junior management, mid-level employee or graduate roles, with 65% of those employees feeling imposter syndrome at some point, the research shows.

Who has imposter syndrome? (It’s not just you)

“Firstly, imposter syndrome isn’t a clinical diagnosis,” Read points out. “It’s a description of thoughts and behaviours. It can happen if you were raised to value achievement, or if you don’t have the traditional qualifications for a role” Read explains. You might also feel like an imposter if you can’t invest as much time and energy into your work as you would like – such as if you have caring responsibilities, Read says.

Why imposter syndrome happens

“Imposter syndrome describes high-achieving individuals who, despite objective success, fail to internalise their accomplishments. They fear that they'll be exposed as a fraud, and someone will find out that they're not as good as they appear to be” Read says.

Impostor syndrome can change your behavior in the workplace – it could stop you applying for jobs, asking for pay rises, or make it hard to sell yourself in an interview, Read says.If you run your own business, you might be unsure how much to charge or be afraid to market yourself, because you don’t think what you’re offering is as valuable as what someone else is.

How imposter syndrome affects your work

“It can have a significant impact on the way we work, our job satisfaction and cause burnout and mental health issues,” Read says.“But doing a job well and being satisfied in your own work should be the main metrics of success, not whether you got the same degree as everyone else.”

Normalise it by sharing: If we talk about it with other people, we realise that others experience it, too. “If you keep those thoughts to yourself, you can feel like you’re the only one,” Read says.Appreciate your achievements: Celebrating your achievements will help challenge your imposter syndrome thinking. If you find that difficult, ask people you trust to tell you about times when they see you at your best.

Challenging the lies that imposter syndrome tells you

It’s entirely appropriate to ask your boss for an example of how you’ve made a valuable contribution to the workplace, Read says.Take your thoughts to court: This is a favourite phrase that Read uses to challenge negative thinking. If you had to prove your case of being an imposter in court, could you really provide the evidence? “Your thoughts would pretty quickly get kicked out of court,” Read says.

As well as challenging the psychological impacts of imposter syndrome, there are several practical steps you can take to combat the negative impact this phenomenon can have on your daily work.According to Relaunch Me founder and career coach Leah Lambart, it’s key to stick to routine and implement a strategy when you feel those feelings creeping back in.

4 tips for managing imposter syndrome in your daily work

<ul><li>Regular self-assessment</li></ul>“Regular self-assessment is necessary to remind yourself of what you bring to the table,” Lambart says. Reflection on a semi-regular basis to help you identify your skills, strengths and unique attributes can build confidence in the workplace or when it comes time to search for a job. This can be as simple as making a list of things you do well, and the skills you can use – whether it’s a mental list or you write it down.

<ul><li>Document your achievements regularly</li></ul>“It may sound simple, but practice getting in the habit of writing down your achievements on a regular basis, even the small wins,” advises Lambart. “Consider keeping a daily ‘accomplishments journal’ and get into the habit of writing down one small win or accomplishment every single day. You may find that you are achieving more than you think.”

<ul><li>Don’t compare yourself to others</li></ul>There are many different avenues to career success, and everyone treads their own path. Just because you’ve reached your position via a different pathway to others doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be there, explains Lambart.“Focus on what you are achieving rather than how you arrived there. Everyone has their own unique set of skills, strengths and attributes that they bring to an organisation and no employer wants everyone to be exactly the same.”

<ul><li>Practice talking about what you have achieved</li></ul>Many people find it difficult to ‘sell’ themselves and often find that the first time that they need to do it is in an interview scenario. But you can get plenty of practice in when you’re working. “Make an effort to keep your manager informed of what you are working on and your successes – in regular catch-up meetings be sure to focus on ‘results’ rather than ‘activities’,” says Lambart.

If you sometimes feel like a fraud, recognising those challenging thoughts is the first step to tackling imposter syndrome. Sharing your feelings with others and asking for objective feedback will help you overcome self-doubt and boost your self-confidence. That can help you gain a new perspective, give you renewed work satisfaction and give yourself the assurance to take on new opportunities.

Feel like an imposter at work? Imposter syndrome is a feeling of self-doubt despite your achievements. Find out 5 common signs and how to manage it.  

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Career

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Health

5 signs of imposter syndrome (and what to do about it) - SEEK Career Advice

There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.

“There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” — Simon Sinek quotes from Quotefancy.com

“There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.”

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐠𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 ± 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬.

𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 

𝟐𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟑𝟎𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬.

𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭

Many people struggle with saying, "No." If someone asks you for a favor or a commitment, you may feel obligated to say "Yes." Remember, just because you can do something does not mean it is required. Work on considering the best ways to say "No." Think about things like your personal boundaries and the situation at hand. When saying "No," do so in a polite manner that makes your boundaries clear. Work on avoiding guilt after saying "No." Understand you always have a right to turn down an invitation or refuse a favor. It's okay to make yourself and your mental health a priority.

Why It Is Necessary?

Part-1

Considering How to Say No

Many people have a knee-jerk reaction to say "Yes" when they're asked to do someone a favor. Keep in mind, you are never required to say "Yes." It's actually okay to say "No" sometimes. Accept this as you prepare to say "No" to someone. This will help you say "No" with ease.If you never say "No," this can have negative consequences. You can enable someone who relies too much on you for favors. You can also burn out on your own end and lose focus.

Give yourself permission to say no

It's always easier to say "No" if you have a reason.However, that reason does not have to be concrete. Many people think if they can do something, they should. Your reason for saying "No" can be a simple matter of your own personal boundaries. Think about what boundaries you have, and embrace the fact you're allowed to stay true to them.Consider what you are reasonably able to do, and what you actually enjoy doing. You can say "No" to things that drain you or distract you. You can set specific boundaries regarding what you will and will not agree to do.

Establish your personal boundaries.

People often won't take "No" for an answer. If you say "No" to someone, they may use persuasion techniques to try and change your mind. Be aware of potential persuasion techniques so you can establish a firm offense.People may try to guilt you into doing something to reciprocate a favor. Remember, just because someone did you a favor does not mean you owe them. Friends do not keep score.A person may also try to get you to do something by comparing you to other people. They may say another person agreed to help. You are not another person. You don't have to repay everytime.

Be aware of potential persuasion techniques

t may sound silly, but you can actually practice saying "No" alone. Try standing before a mirror and looking at yourself. Practice giving a firm, "No" to someone so you get comfortable with the words. Many people are nervous about saying "No" and may say "Yes" due to anxiety. Practicing can help quell some of this anxiety.

Practice saying "No"

Follow me for Part-2😊😊

Many people struggle with saying, "No." If someone asks you for a favor or a commitment, you may feel obligated to say "Yes." Remember, just because you can do something does not mean it is required. Work on considering the best ways to...

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Time Management

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Love & Relationships

How to Learn to Say No: Part-1

Just a great company I had a chance to collaborate with :)

Great UI/UX Solution

Create a successful web or mobile application with a UI/UX design agency specializing in building SaaS products.

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Product & Design

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Society, Arts & Culture

UI/UX Design Services – Eleken

People all over the world struggle with feedback. In any feedback exchange between giver and receiver, it's the receiver who decides what they're going to let in and whether and how they will choose to change. However, if we could get better at this, it would make a huge difference. Research shows that people who go out and solicit negative feedback, have higher work satisfaction, adapt quicker in new roles and get higher performance reviews.

It's hard to receive feedback

Getting a better handle on feedback changes you and how other people perceive you.
Think about a suggestion or advice you've received in your life that you've rejected. There could be hundreds of reasons why you didn't take it. Maybe it was wrong or bad advice, or perhaps you were not aware that you cared about their opinion. The problem is that you will always find something wrong with your feedback. 90% of it might be wrong, but 10% may be just what you need.

Receiving feedback is a skill

<ul>
<li>Truth triggers. Is the feedback correct? However, we all have blind spots. It's tricky to figure out what the givers are trying to tell you.</li>
<li>Relationship triggers. All feedback lives in the relationship between giver and receiver. We often have a bigger reaction to who's giving us advice than to what they're saying. We can conquer this trigger by separating the who from the what.</li>
<li>Identity triggers have to do with your emotional reaction and what it says about who you are.</li>
</ul>

Three kinds of triggered reactions

Psychologists estimate that 50 percent of our reactions are based on genetic wiring, 40 percent on the story you tell yourself, and 10 percent on the actual circumstances.<ul><li>The story you tell yourself about the feedback you get has a huge impact on how you feel about it.</li><li>High achievers. When we let ourselves down, the judgments and feedback we have for ourselves can be the hardest to deal with. </li></ul>

Overreacting to feedback

Some people are very sensitive to feedback, while others are the opposite. Both have their own challenges with feedback.The sensitive personOne piece of feedback can suddenly become everything. It becomes super-sized. You may look at all your past mistakes, and it seems like you have never done anything right.The undersensitive person<ul><li>You often don't realise people are trying to give you feedback. They may say, "Bill is doing this," and you think "good for Bill."</li><li>You may acknowledge feedback, but then it doesn't stick.</li><li>People may say you're aloof or overbearing, and you dismiss it outright.</li></ul>

The sensitive and undersensitive person

<ul>
<li>Identity. Ask your friends or colleagues, "what is the one thing I'm doing or failing to do that you think is getting in the way?</li>
<li>What is the one thing I could change about how I run our weekly meeting that would be an improvement?</li>
<li>What is the one thing that would make a difference to you in our friendship?</li>
</ul>

How to encourage feedback

We have two core human needs. <ul><li>We want to learn and grow </li><li>We also have a need to be accepted and respected and loved the way we are now. Feedback suggests that how we are now is not ok.</li></ul> However, sometimes, the most painful things in our lives are some of the most important things we've learned in life. To get the most out of feedback, we have to learn to manage the pain to enrich our relationships and to get learning faster.

Learn to manage pain to receive feedback

A collection of 7 Ted talks to inspire you and help you get better at CSM

problemsolving

Problem Solving

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Business

Top 7 TED Talks On Customer Success

This talk offers excellent insights into why nobody likes feedback, why feedback is good, and how to get the best out of feedback.

Most efforts to improve individual and organizational learning focus on teaching people how to give feedback. After years of consulting with organizations around the world on how to manage their most challenging conversations, Heen and her colleagues realized they may have been thinking about the problem the wrong way. She explains why, if you want to improve learning in your organization, the smart money is on figuring out how to receive feedback—even off-base or poorly delivered feedback—and use it to fuel growth.  With plenty of examples and a natural charm, Heen delivers a talk that will change the way you think about feedback. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with feedback, but Heen thinks we can learn to embrace it for the valuable tool it is. If we handle it right, we can use it to enhance our performance and strengthen our most important relationships. A founder of Triad Consulting Group and a lecturer at Harvard Law School, Heen has spent the last 20 years with the Harvard Negotiation Project, developing negotiation theory and practice. Her work takes her throughout the world, helping people and organizations work through their most difficult conversations.  A New York Times bestselling author of two books, she specializes in particularly difficult negotiations – where emotions run high and relationships become strained. An expert often sought out by the media, Sheila is schooled in negotiation daily by her three children. Learn more about Sheila Heen at http://bit.ly/1IQ0azH. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

videos

Videos

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Most efforts to improve individual and organizational learning focus on teaching people how to give feedback. After years of consulting with organizations around the world on how to manage their most challenging conversations, Heen and her colleagues realized they may have been thinking about the problem the wrong way. She explains why, if you want to improve learning in your organization, the smart money is on figuring out how to receive feedback—even off-base or poorly delivered feedback—and use it to fuel growth.

With plenty of examples and a natural charm, Heen delivers a talk that will change the way you think about feedback. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with feedback, but Heen thinks we can learn to embrace it for the valuable tool it is. If we handle it right, we can use it to enhance our performance and strengthen our most important relationships.

A founder of Triad Consulting Group and a lecturer at Harvard Law School, Heen has spent the last 20 years with the Harvard Negotiation Project, developing negotiation theory and practice. Her work takes her throughout the world, helping people and organizations work through their most difficult conversations.

A New York Times bestselling author of two books, she specializes in particularly difficult negotiations – where emotions run high and relationships become strained. An expert often sought out by the media, Sheila is schooled in negotiation daily by her three children. Learn more about Sheila Heen at http://bit.ly/1IQ0azH.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

TEDx is an international community that organizes TED-style events anywhere and everywhere -- celebrating locally-driven ideas and elevating them to a global stage. TEDx events are produced independently of TED conferences, each event curates speakers on their own, but based on TED's format and rules.

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). 

For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request here: https://media-requests.ted.com.

TEDx Talks

How to use others' feedback to learn and grow | Sheila Heen | TEDxAmoskeagMillyardWomen

Poor onboarding, engagement and customer service make up 52% of the reasons customers leave in the first 90 days.

Ever installed a new app or signed up for a new service? We’ve all done that before, and the first thing we need to know is HOW to navigate our way through the service and get the value. But when the initial experience is bumpy, new customers can start to disengage or even unsubscribe from the service, FREE or paid. This is why Customer Onboarding is very important so as to boost customer retention, increase customer satisfaction and reduce customer churn.

The First Few Days For Any New Customer Is Very Crucial

It always excites me when I receive a welcome email from the Founder/CEO of a company whose services I’ve signed up to. Many apps provide welcome emails to new users, but it can be adapted in any type of business, not apps alone.It is such an effective way to excite customers and provide next steps. That way, you start to lead customers through a seamless customer journey they will equally be excited to look forward to.

Start With A Welcome Email

Now that you’ve made your customers feel at home, it is time to get them familiar with your services. This is where introductions and inductions make a huge difference. Consider mini tours, scheduled email introductions and other forms of customer engagement to help them become familiar with your platform or services. Start with a high level overview, then find opportunities later for in-depth tutorials and guidance.

Mini-Inductions & Intro Sessions

Whether you’ve got an app, a software or a non-tech service, wizards and templates are a great way of speeding up setup. An accountant can use a budget template to help a new client create their initial budget. Apps can have presets that automatically configure systems and preferences for new users. Think of ways to speed up the initial setup with reusable wizards and templates so the customer’s setup tasks are fewer and faster.

Speed Up Setup With Wizards & Templates

Bombarding a new customer with all information on day 1 is a recipe for disaster. You will end up overwhelming them, they would forget most of what you said, and they will still contact you for support. A better way is to break up and pace out your content and deliver them to new customers using two types of triggers.<ol><li>User triggers - content released to a user when they take an action. Eg. Display an on-screen tip to a customer visiting a specific page for the first time</li><li>Time triggers - eg. Tutorial content sent to new users over the first 7 days of subscribing</li></ol>

Triggered Content

Customers can’t be bothered with reading pages of text especially when videos can relay the message easier and better. This is why instructional videos are more powerful than text-based user guides. Consider creating an archive of short videos and make them available to customers for reference. Eg. An accountant can create a short video clip showing a customer how to create a budget.

Video Is More Effective Than Pages Of Text

If all the previously mentioned activities are setup properly, you should find fewer customers needing your support during onboarding. That said, let customers know how to reach you for assistance as this gives them the additional confidence, knowing that help is not far away.

Reliable & Reachable Customer Suppprt

Many businesses struggle to keep up with customer enquiries, complaints, feedback and special requests. It is impossible to respond and resolve issues within specific timescales and urgency if you rely on emails only. This is why a CRM like <a href="https://mycentreoffice.com">MyCo</a> is great, for capturing customers, automating customer communication and setting up a Service Center to capture customer requests. It also has a 14 day free trial you may want to check out.

Use A CRM/Business Tool With A Service Center

And don’t assume it’s all working seamlessly once you launch your new customer onboarding process. Pay attention to customer behaviour, get customer feedback and continuously find ways to improve the process.

Don’t Forget To Collect Customer Feedback

Why is the customer onboarding process so important? Very simple - to attract, convert and retain more paying customers. It will help you increase your customer lifetime value (CLV) so you can keep delivering paid services to your customers consistently and get paid continuously. This is how businesses win and retain their deserved marketshare.

It’s All About The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

All the things you need to better the most important part of your customer journey. 

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

Onboarding Matters

It is so easy to lose a customer just after they’ve subscribed or paid for your services.  When this happens, it is most likely due to a faulty Customer Onboarding process. Here is how to setup a seamless Customer Onboarding process that retains customers.

Customers can become frustrated and leave your services even in the first few moments and days of subscribing to your services. Many organisations have proved this including Business2Community…

A Seamless Customer Onboarding process that sells

The only thing that has really helped to bridge the virtual gap between employees and managers is communication. However, both over-communicating and under-communicating — the extreme ends of optimal communication — come with their downsides. If there’s poor communication from the manager, there’s a risk of a wide gap in meeting team goals, delays in project completion, and duplication of work. On the other hand, if a manager is over-communicating, they risk wasting time, demotivating their team, and micromanaging their direct reports to the point of burnout

Finding Balance In Your Communication Frequency

1-on-1 meetings are a great opportunity for managers to talk candidly with their direct reports. They are also opportunities for managers to grow as leaders of a remote team, to reflect on their own mentoring skills, their ability to give feedback and listen to constructive criticism. Some questions that managers can ask during these meetings:<ul><li>What’s on your mind this week?</li><li>Last time we spoke, you said X was a challenge for you. How is that going?</li><li>What are your plans and priorities for this week?</li><li>How aligned do you feel with where the company is going?</li><li>What feedback do you have for me?</li></ul>

Host Frequent 1:1 Meetings And Be Open To Feedback 

It’s really important for remote leaders to set rules around how, when, and which communication tools to use when working in virtual teams. When to use Slack? Which situations call for an email? Under what circumstances should an ad-hoc meeting be scheduled? Set up project collaboration tools to track project updates. If a project would benefit from creative and energetic exchange of ideas, then schedule a call for clarity. Complement video calls with traditional emails for company-wide communication.

Set Up Communication Guidelines

Micromanagement can be a costly management style that can lead to low employee morale, high staff turnover, reduction of productivity, and overall dissatisfaction. Avoid constantly asking for status updates as this can come across as having a lack of trust in the team to do their work, and that’s a slippery slope no manager wants to be on.Micromanagement can lead to impostor syndrome, and also lead to disappointment and lack of motivation for certain employees, so watch out for those common signals that managers may need to take a step back.

Make An Effort To Not Micromanage

<ul><li>Synchronous communication includes every form of communication that happens in real-time, and there’s an immediate response.</li><li>Asynchronous communication includes every form of communication that doesn’t happen in real-time, and responses can occur intermittently. Asynchronous communication is impactful for teams that work across time zones, as there’s no expectation of an immediate response.</li></ul>It’s down to the managers on how and what tools they want to implement with the team.

Asynchronous and Synchronous communication.

Discover how to strike the balance between over-communicating and under-communicating as the manager of a remote team. 

remotework

Remote Work

4 Ways To Balance Under And Over-Communication As A Remote Work Manager

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