October 21st, 2010 by Michael Hudson
It’s often been said that good things come in small packages, and that is certainly the case with The Myth of Multitasking. The book is appropriately brief and well-focused, and it provides easily implemented approaches that can quickly improve your effectiveness in leading your credit union.
Author Dave Crenshaw makes a strong case for why multitasking is both a myth and a lie, supporting his ideas with references from scientific research and anecdotal evidence. Writing in the context of a performance coach working with an entrepreneur, he reveals the flawed logic behind multitasking and then provides a step-by-step approach for becoming more efficient.
To some the concepts will be familiar. But to others the very idea that multitasking doesn’t work will be hard to swallow. And that’s where the real power of the book is revealed. By role playing the conversations with a non-believer, Crenshaw responds to the objections that multitasking devotees will bring up. In the process he reveals the flaws in their logic and delivers actionable advice for changing behavior.
Dave Crenshaw is a business coach and founder of Fresh Juice Strategy. He coaches CEOs and management teams worldwide and is a frequent keynote speaker. The ideas he shares in The Myth of Multitasking will be of interest to credit union leaders interested in increasing their effectiveness and their impact.
ACTION ADVICE: Even if you don’t opt to read this little gem, let me encourage you to consider its most valuable lesson: Multitasking was never intended for human beings. It is a term that was coined with respect to computers that were able to switch between multiple tasks so quickly that they appeared to be doing them all at once.
The simple fact is that people are not wired to do more than one thing at a time. When you consider that and look at how you really operate when you think you are multitasking, you will realize that you are actually switch-tasking. It’s less efficient than focusing, and it tends to invade the development of relationships with your team. Just paying attention to that reality can significantly increase your impact.
Posted in Creative Ideas, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development, Recommended Reading | Post A Comment »
October 20th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
It’s no secret that these are challenging times for credit unions and credit union leaders.
The entire financial services industry has been turned upside down in the past three years and most agree that the uncertainty and upheaval are far from over.
As a result, the day-to-day business of every credit union has changed, and the long term outlook for many credit unions is anything but certain.
During times like this different people have different reactions, particularly when it comes to communicating:
- Some shy away from sharing their concerns because they don’t want to appear worried or unsure.
- Others openly share their concerns with people outside the company, but become cautious in communications with their colleagues.
- Then there are those who soldier on doing their jobs and waiting for someone to ask them what they think.
- And, of course, there are those who share their every thought with everyone except those who need to hear them.
Though the list is not exhaustive, the point has been made. Uncertainty changes the way people communicate, and as a credit union leader it is important to recognize this and take action to ensure that it does not adversely impact performance.
It starts with your leadership team. If they are not being candid and open with each other, it will quickly filter down to the teams they lead, and that will lead to even more disruption within the organization.
ACTION ADVICE: Consider blocking out a day each month where your leadership team goes to a private place for a half-day “We Need to Talk” session:
- The only agenda for the session is candor, honesty, and openness about what is going on in the credit union.
- Share the good, the bad, and the ugly, but set clear parameters that there will be no retribution, no blaming, and no personal attacks.
- Focus on getting concerns on the table, sharing the good things that are happening but getting lost amid the challenges, and discussing the real challenges that the credit union is facing.
- Don’t document or track the conversations—just talk about things and build a stronger bond within the team by opening up the dialogue and getting everything into the open.
CRITICAL CAVEAT: If you choose to take this action step, recognize that it is worthless if you only do it one time. In fact, it will likely take multiple meetings before the group gets comfortable and starts to focus on the real issues. If you all agree that “what we say here stays here when we leave here,” and work to create the level of trust that it take to adhere to that agreement. You may want to have someone facilitate the conversation so that everyone can participate equally and to avoid having anyone singled out as the leader of the conversation.
It’s Your Turn…Have you experienced this phenomenon in your credit union? Are people communicating differently now than they did three or four years ago? What are the impacts and implications? Please post a comment and share your insights.
Posted in Improving Communication, Leadership Development | Post A Comment »
October 19th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
One of the inherent challenges in leading your credit union is finding a way to change things when things need to be changed. Volumes have been written about the natural momentum in organizations that gets in the way of implementing even the best ideas.
But my point is not to lament those problems, nor to suggest magical solutions to them. Instead my goal is to suggest that there is one critical step that needs to be taken before you even consider changing anything the you do in your credit union: Change the way you think about change.
The reality is that change is a part of any growth process. More important, change always happens incrementally. Read More »
Posted in Creative Ideas, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency, Leadership Development, Strategic Thinking | Post A Comment »
October 15th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
Chances are you’ve heard this statement before: If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
When it comes to tracking results from your social media efforts, this concept creates a bit of a conundrum for credit unions. After all, how do you really measure the impacts of being part of an ongoing conversation?
It’s a bit like leaving a business meet-n-greet, and trying to evaluate your success. You can count business cards or recall conversations, but it is virtually impossible to know what the longer-term outcomes will be from your participation in the event.
The same is generally true for your credit union’s social media efforts. You can celebrate the number of friends and followers you attract, count your total posts and tweets, track comments and retweets, and perhaps measure responses to specific offers you make via follow-up questions or tracking codes. But generally speaking it is not going to be easy to measure the impacts of your efforts in the short-term. Read More »
Posted in Credit Union Strategy, Effective Marketing Strategies, Improving Organizational Effectiveness | 2 Comments »
October 13th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
Technology tools can do amazing things for credit unions, and they are becoming increasingly important in everything you do.
But like any tool, they will only produce positive outcomes when you take the time to understand them, stay vigilant in monitoring their use, and put them to work in the right situations.
Here are three quick insights to help you better leverage technology within your credit union:
1. Understand the Tools. Social media has become a powerful force in the marketplace and can be an important tool in the marketing toolbox. But the first step is to understand how it works. The key first step is to recognize that it is a medium for conversation. That means that to succeed in using it you need to be a real, genuine participant in the conversation–not an intruder broadcasting only messages that can be seen as self-serving.
2. Monitor Usage and Updates. Technology tools evolve quickly, and the model for innovation has become one of “roll out the update and let the users help us improve it.” Changes in software often take effect before they are announced, and things you have set up on autopilot may stop working without advanced notice. For example, this blog was set up to automatically post to Facebook and Twitter, and it worked great until the software was updated. A quick check revealed an easy fix to get it back on track, but without monitoring, it would have been easy to assume it was still working when in fact it wasn’t.
3. Don’t Let Technology Become a Roadblock. Even the best technology solutions can occasionally get in the way, as can the mindset that everything needs a technology-based solution. For example, a client was recently discussing the need to engage their credit union team in selling additional products and services to their members. The conversation quickly became focused on how this system didn’t talk to that system and how difficult it would be to track performance. The danger is obvious: an effort to increase sales was about to be put on hold pending the development of a tracking system. But in the early days of the initiative, a simple paper and pencil report, or perhaps a spreadsheet, would have worked fine; you don’t need a fancy tracking system until you have something to track.
ACTION ADVICE: Take a careful look at how well you are leveraging technology. Make sure those who use it understand how it works and what it is supposed to do for the credit union. Monitor the tools you are using and be on the lookout for updates that require attention to keep the systems you have put into place working. Be on the lookout for times when technology becomes a roadblock to doing something that could be done simpler and easier by other tools.
Posted in Increasing Efficiency, Leveraging Technology | Post A Comment »
October 12th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
There’s an old adage in sales that says “To sell Jane Smith what Jane Smith buys, you have to see Jane Smith through Jane Smith’s eyes.”
Truer words have never been sp0ken (and they are equally relevant for John Smith).
For today’s credit unions, this statement is something that should be top of mind in every thing that you do. Serving multiple generations with increasingly diverse perspectives is a challenge, and it is one that must be overcome if you are to achieve long term success.
It starts with asking the question: How well do we understand the real needs of our members across each generation that we serve?
Next, depending upon your answers to the previous question, take action to learn more about what your member want and need. Find out where they are getting the things they need that you don’t offer. Learn what it would take for them to switch to your credit union for those services, and why they haven’t already done so.
Finally, as you move forward and look to grow your credit union by attracting new members, figure out how you can leverage the relationships you have with current members who have similar demographic characteristics. Strive to learn what Jane Smith sees and figure out how to deliver the products and services she wants to buy from her credit union.
ACTION ADVICE: Use your member customer information files to identify members who represent the key demographics you credit union serves, then invest some time talking with members from each segment to learn more about their needs. You can use formal focus groups, or informal lunch-n-learn type sessions. Remember to ask the questions and listen to the responses, not to defend, justify, or explain. The way to learn what Jane Smith buys is to ask her and then listen carefully to what she says.
What do you think? What has your credit union done to learn more about the needs and wants of your members? Do you have any suggestions for other credit unions regarding how to better understand and serve the different generations within your membership? Please post a comment and share your insights.
Posted in Building Relationships, Connecting with Generation Y, Connecting with Traditional Members, Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union | 2 Comments »
October 6th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
One of the more interesting discussions that often arises during planning sessions is how a credit union should define growth. It’s an important question, and your planning team should come to an agreement about it before making any decisions.
The reality is that everyone seems to have their own definitions of what it means to grow the credit union, with the most common views and their rationales including:
Memberships. If the number of members is increasing, then the credit union is growing because more members will use more services and that will lead to improved financial performance.
Assets. Assumes that as the credit union attracts more assets it is able to lend more money to its members and as loans grow, the credit union will grow.
ROA or ROI. When the rate of return is growing (or at least being maintained), then the credit union is (or at least holding its ground).
Net Worth. When net worth is being increased, the credit union is strengthening its financial position and therefore growing.
There are merits to each of these, and perhaps in many cases some combination of these or other measures is the best approach.
The real point is that it needs to be explicitly defined so that everyone on the planning team, as well as everyone on the staff, knows how growth is being measured, since it is often the primary goal of the strategic plan.
ACTION ADVICE: Block out some time during your planning session to discuss what growth means to your Board and Leadership Teams. Work to come to a consensus about how you will measure growth so that you can define clear performance targets. Be cautious not to just create a measure(s) that can be manipulated too easily or that will not accurately reflect the outcomes you are seeking for your credit union.
It’s Your Turn…How does your credit union define growth? What have you found works best to keep the team focused and to produce the results you want? How do you use growth as a guideline or outcome measure for your overall business strategy. Please post a comment and share your insights.
Posted in Credit Union Strategy, Growing Your Credit Union | Post A Comment »
September 27th, 2010 by Michael Hudson
Traveling tends to make you pay attention to things that normally don’t cross your mind. On this trip, the thing that keeps coming up is consistently, or more correctly the lack thereof, and its implications for the way people see your business.
For credit unions it is important to consider this because the foundation of the financial services relationship is trust. When you articulate and communicate policies that you don’t follow, you undermine that trust.
Here are a some quick examples from yesterday’s travels. Read More »
Posted in Building Relationships, Improving Member Service | Post A Comment »
September 23rd, 2010 by Michael Hudson
One of the often overlooked realities about credit unions is that they are small businesses.
Think about it.
Most employee less than 200 people, serve a relatively targeted market area, and have only a few locations. The day-to-day business operations and the associated challenges closely mirror those faced by entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Recognition of this parallel opens up a world of options to credit union leaders for advice, insight, and ideas on improving credit union success. There is wealth of information available that is designed to support the growth of small businesses, and much of it has direct applicability to credit unions.
Conquer the Chaos is example. The subtitle of the book is “How to Grow a Successful Small Business without Going Crazy.” And the book’s authors speak from experience, having built the software company Infusionsoft which is a leading provider of e-mail marketing software for small businesses. Read More »
Posted in Creative Ideas, Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union, Increasing Efficiency, Recommended Reading | Post A Comment »
September 21st, 2010 by Michael Hudson
OK, in some ways this is not fair. The occurrence that led me to write this post did not happen at a credit union, and in fact happened in an industry that is notoriously worse than the credit union industry will ever (I hope) allow itself to become.
But there is an important lesson in the experience, so sharing it may be worthwhile.
While booking a flight yesterday I encountered one of those situations where there were no seats available on one of the flights for the trip. Well, actually there were six unassigned seats shown on the little diagram, but all were in exit rows, and this airline only allows their “preferred passengers” to reserve those seats.
Though my status this year on this particular airline has not reached the “preferred passenger” level, I decided to call the airline to see if there was any way of reserving a seat. The last thing I wanted to do was show up at a regional airport and find the flight oversold and fully booked. Read More »
Posted in Improving Member Service | 2 Comments »
It’s often been said that good things come in small packages, and that is certainly the case with The Myth of Multitasking. The book is appropriately brief and well-focused, and it provides easily implemented approaches that can quickly improve your effectiveness in leading your credit union.
