Ready.gov’s National Preparedness Month 2009 Business Fact Sheet

It’s not really a ‘put on a funny hat and blow a paper noise maker’ sort of event, but September is National Preparedness Month and I thought in honor of that I would share The Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.gov Business Fact Sheet. The fact sheet is distributed as part of their Ready Business campaign and you can find more details and resources for appropriate disaster planning and business continuity at www.ready.gov.

As our contribution to National Preparedness Month we have made our on-demand teleseminar, Riding the Storm Out, available FREE for the rest of the year.  Visit this page to listen to 4 South Florida experts discuss strategies, tips, and best practices for building a simple but effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan. The whole seminar is only about an hour and is packed full of real-deal advice, and each speaker also provided supporting documents that you can download.

2009 Business Fact Sheet Follows:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Fact Sheet

September 1, 2009

READY BUSINESS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Advertising Council launched the Ready Business Campaign in September 2004. This extension of Homeland Security’s successful Ready Campaign, designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, focuses specifically on business preparedness. Ready Business helps owners and managers of small- and medium-sized businesses prepare their employees, operations and assets in the event of an emergency.

• Ready Business was developed by Homeland Security and launched in partnership with U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Society of Human Resource Management, The Business Roundtable, The 9/11 Public Discourse Project, ASIS International, Business Executives for National Security, International Safety Equipment Association, International Security Management Association, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Businesses, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• The goal of Ready Business is to raise the business community’s awareness of the need for emergency planning and motivate businesses to take action. The campaign encourages business owners and managers to: plan to stay in business; talk to their employees; and protect their investment.
• Emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks, can paralyze business operations. Small- and medium-sized businesses in particular are most vulnerable to these events. Having an emergency plan can help protect a company and maximize its potential to survive and recover after an incident.
• According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses represent more than 99 percent of all employers; provide approximately 75 percent of the net new jobs added to the economy; and represent 97 percent of all U.S. exporters. If these businesses are prepared to survive and recover, the nation and the economy are more secure. Read more

Is silence killing trust in your business?

While the old adage says “Silence is golden” it could be eroding trust in your business or on your team. When working with others remotely – whether it’s virtual team members, clients, or vendors – communication is what brings everyone together. Lack of effective and timely communication can quickly destroy working relationships and fill people with doubt and fear.

While timely communication and the danger of silence is something we often talk about in our workshops for virtual teams, it was highlighted recently by an experience I am having with a consultant we hired to do some specialized marketing. Never having met this consultant in person, my trust in him was based on his website, the testimonial of others who refer him, and examples of his work.  While all of these essential pieces were in place, the trust he had developed has quickly dissolved through poor communication.

In trying to get an update on the status of our project, which is past deadline,  I’ve left him several emails and voice mails over the past few weeks that have all gone unanswered. So what am I to think? In the lack of any information or communication from him, doubt creeps in: Maybe he has dropped the ball on my project, I guess we aren’t that important to him, why is he ignoring my messages?

Now believe me I understand what it’s like to be busy – but a short, quick reply to any one of the messages I sent would have not only kept me in the loop but would have increased my trust in him. A simple “Hey sorry I haven’t been able to get you that report yet but something came up and I want to make sure I give it my full attention”. A world of difference from silence – my attitude would have been “wow look how important my project is to him!“ When people’s problems are acknowledged in a timely manner they are more likely to feel respected and be patient for a solution.

I’ve made this mistake myself in the past and now have a policy that if I don’t have time to reply to someone, I at least send a quick message to acknowledge I received their message and will get back to them soon in more depth. Is this a mistake you’ve made? Have you let replies slide and found yourself struggling to repair lost faith? If you are a solo professional, small business owner, or virtual team member working with co-workers or clients you don’t see – your relationships are all based on trust.  Communication is not just important, it’s critical. Great communication doesn’t just happen – it needs to be a deliberate process.

When working with members of your remote team or clients, put these guidelines in place to be a “conscious communicator”:

• What are the preferred forms of communication? (ie. phone, email, instant messenger)
• What is the expected time frame for a response? (ie. 24 hours for email, 2 hours for voicemail)
• Take time to keep people updated with regards to project milestones and progress.
• Make sure everyone is on the same page with regards to expectations and deliverables.
• Consistency – how regularly should everyone be checking in with one another?

Proper communication can serve as a pathway to building trust, or left unchecked it can kill your business and your reputation and undermine your teamwork. By putting simple guidelines in place to make it a more conscious process your teamwork and business will thrive.

What are your tips for effective communication guidelines?

Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization (Part 4: What Makes a Good Telework Manager?)

Welcome to Part 4 of our 13 part audio series on Flexible Work and Telecommuting –  Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization“.

Most organizations feel one of the biggest challenges they face when implementing a telework program is dealing with remote management.  It’s unfortunate that many organizations let this perception stop them from reaping the benefits from telecommuting and a more flexible workplace.

Remote management is not radically different from managing people on-site: it requires the performance of basic management skills such as goal setting, assessing progress, giving regular feedback, and maintaining frequent, ongoing communication. However, while telecommuting and mobile work provide tremendous benefits to any organization, leading remote employees and managing dispersed teams have some unique challenges.

The difference is a shift in management style and the use of appropriate technology. The whole organization benefits through adjustments like learning to manage by results rather than activity, and by focusing on improving communication and nurturing trust between managers and employees. Instead of seeing this as an obstacle, view this as an opportunity to improve management in your company. Most organizations that have implemented telecommuting have found this to be an unexpected benefit of the process.

In part 4 of our podcast, our panel will explore what  qualities and best practices are needed for managing remote  employees.

So listen in to Part 4: What Makes a Good Telework Manager?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:43 — 6.2MB)

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Our workshop – “The Art of Virtual Leadership” is focused on helping managers learn to lead distributed or virtual teams and better manage remote employees.  Click here for more information.

Read more

Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization (Part 3: What to Look for in a Telework Candidate?)

Welcome to Part 3 of our 13 part audio series on Flexible Work and Telecommuting –  Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization“.

If you are thinking about rolling out a telework program in your organization one question that is significant to ask is: who in our organization should telecommute? Not every person or every job is a good fit for telecommuting.  In last weeks episode (Part 2) we took a look at what job types were right for remote work. This week we discuss who makes a good telework candidate.

Aside from job tasks themselves – it’s important to pick people in your company that are most suited for working from home or outside the office. You will want to choose the employees who have the highest chance for success while you work out the details and get comfortable with telecommuting as as work option, especially in the early stages of your program.  Over time your choice of employees will expand as you learn how to handle  obstacles, develop more procedures, have more support in place, and learn to better use your technology. Training and employee development can help those that might need more “hands-on” management become better equipped for telework.

In part 3 of our podcast, our panel will look at the type of people and work habits that make the best telecommuters.

So listen in to Part 3: What to Look for in a Telework Candidate?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:46 — 5.3MB)

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Read more

Special interview with federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra – CNET Blogs

Back in April, President Obama announced that Aneesh Chopra, formerly Virginia’s secretary of technology, would be the United State’s first Chief Technology Officer.

“Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities — from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure,” said Obama.

“Aneesh and Jeffrey [Zients, the newly appointed chief innovation officer] will work closely with our chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs,” he added.

After hearing the news of Melissa Hathaway’s resignation I got to wondering how Mr. Chopra was holding up. I found this interview he gave on Buzz Out Loud just a couple of weeks ago.

BOL 1033: Special interview with federal CTO Aneesh Chopra | Buzz Out Loud Blog – CNET Blogs.

If you are interested in some background on Aneesh Chopra, Tim O’Rielly posted a comprehensive article on his O’Rielly Radar blog back in April entitled Why Aneesh Chopra is a Great Choice for Federal CTO.

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