As I write this, I'm wrapping up my first official week as Editor of Systems Contractor News. My quote to everyone has been "I'm so excited for this new adventure". And that's what it is - a new adventure. I love that I was fortunate enough to take on a new challenge in the AV industry. Everyone has been so supportive of my transition, from my former employer Peerless-AV to the NewBay team to my #AVTweeps. I'm very much looking forward to bringing a fresh perspective to SCN. You'll read a lot of this in my first Editor's Letter (check out the September issue!) so I'll try not to repeat myself. I want SCN to be an industry collaboration now more than ever. I don't want to hear about your widgets, I want to hear why your products are making #AVTweeps and end-users lives easier. I want you to Tweet me (@MeganADutta or @SCNMag) and tell me why you LOVED the last issue or what you think we got wrong. I want to see all of your faces at our cool new events like the SCN Think Tank. Trust me, you don't want to miss this - the genius that is Kirsten Nelson has lined up a BANGING group of innovators ready to discuss next-level technologies. Check it out here: http://www.scnthinktank.com/ I'll end this with a quick thank you to everyone at NewBay who has been as kind, thoughtful and helpful as you expect, especially Adam, Margot and Jeremy. And a special shout-out to Gene Kinsella who is an all-around wonderful human and has spent the last 10 years encouraging my growth in the industry. Looking forward to this new chapter in my life. Hope to hear from all of you soon!
0 Comments
The time has come for me to close a significant chapter of life - today is my last day at Peerless-AV. I've spent 11 wonderful years here making great memories, learning new skills and pushing the team to think outside the box. What am I going to miss most?Hands down: my amazing team. I'm honored to manage such a young, talented group of women. All three of them will go far in both life and the business world. If you haven't met them yet, you should definitely connect with them on LinkedIn: Kelly Yuen, Rachael Hinds & Yesenia Martinez. I wish them much success in the future and look forward to seeing the big things they do! As my time here ends, a new story begins. Stay tuned to hear about my next adventure! Do you sigh every time you walk into a meeting and a PowerPoint on the screen? Me, too! Even the most exciting topic can lose the room with a boring presentation. Here are some tips I have learned to help make my presentations more stimulating. 1. Know Your Audience First and foremost, you HAVE to know whom you’re speaking to. Have a room full of busy executive? Make it short, sweet and to the point. Younger audience? Add videos and make it really interactive. 2. Tell A Story Make it entertaining. There’s nothing worse than someone sitting there and listing off facts…except if they’re just reading said facts right off the screen with no eye contact. Engage your audience. Tell them a story and make them remember. If you’re looking for tips on storytelling, check out Matthew Luhn. 3. Make It Relatable Let’s be honest – if there’s not a benefit for the listener, they’re tuned out. Connect to your subjects, make them see why they should care. 4. Practice, Practice, Practice This sounds so basic but practice truly does make perfect. Take the time to craft your message. It’s not only what you say, it’s also how you say it. Figure out which points you want to emphasize. Grab your team (or even your friends and family) and ask them to sit through your rehearsal. Ask for honest feedback. You want to know if you’re dropping ummms and likes all day or if you’re swaying from side to side like you’re rocking a baby. Small things like that can be distracting during a presentation and if you’re aware of your issues, you can consciously work to make them better. What are you doing to improve your presentation skills? What has helped you? I’d love to hear your answers in the comments below. You can't just post stuff has become my go-to phrase when I'm passing down social media wisdom (yes, there is such a thing!). Your social media content has got to be engaging and your goal should be to create a conversation. Remember: conversations lead to sales.
Great advice, Megan. Now what? The next step isn't coming from me. I found this AWESOME social media exercise on LinkedIn. This offline exercise - yep, you read that right, shut off the electronics - is designed to use teamwork to create better online content. I can't wait to test it out with my team. Do the same and let me know how it goes! Link to exercise: http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2017/07/19/an-offline-social-media-exercise-that-improves-online-content.aspx?utm_content=57737084&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin I have a friend who works in a blame game culture. People at his office save every single e-mail just in case. They call it their CYA policy. This isn't a healthy environment but what can he do to change it (besides the obvious answer of leaving)? 1. Emphasize the Future Moving forward, don't revisit the past, use mistakes as lessons and move on. When something goes wrong, don't get wrapped up in pointing fingers. Focus on what should be done to resolve the issue and avoid similar problems in the future. 2. Create the RIGHT Relationships Make friends and work closely with those who don't throw others under the bus. Try to get on projects with those people and create a strategy of shared collaboration and accountability. 3. Just the Facts, Ma'am It can be difficult when you feel you're chronically being blamed. Don't let your emotions get the best of you. Stand tall and use your facts. Give an accurate description of the events with no emotions involved. Be specific and include time lines. Follow that with "here's what I could have done better". It'll get your point across and also show everyone you understand what happened and the part you played in it. 4. Messed up? Admit it. Everybody makes mistakes...even if I love to say "I'm practically perfect in every way like Mary Poppins", I'm not. Be the first to step up and say "This was my fault." Tell the team what you learned from the mistake and create a system so it doesn't happen again. You'll cultivate a no-nonsense reputation and people respect that. 5. Don't Be That Manager As a manager, you are responsible for your team's successes AND failures. If you're at fault, tell people. If it's someone on your team, work with them to create a plan of action to fix the mistake and to ensure it's not repeated. To prevent the blame game, set clear goals with timelines. Each member of your team should know their responsibility and due dates. It's okay to make mistakes as along as we accept them, learn from them and don't repeat them. Let's all agree to stop playing the blame game and starting using mistakes as a learning tool. Do you have any blame game stories? I'd love to hear them in the comments below! We live in a GO, GO, GO world. The rapid evolution of technology has turned us into an "I want it now" society (Hello, Veruca Salt!). When I say I work in a fast-paced environment, I mean lightning speed. Like nothing you've ever seen. Everything is needed yesterday. First person to invent a time machine will make a whole bunch of money from my company! I kid, I kid. Let's get back to the story... The scene: sitting in a conference room discussing a brochure for a product set to launch in October. "YES!" I am silently screaming to myself thinking we have time to be creative and plan for this project. The meeting goes smoothly with no surprises and I have a vague idea of direction in my head. Then, as we are heading out the door, I ask "What's the deliverable date for this?" I hear the time-old dreaded response... "How quickly can I get it?" Big sigh. I know from previous experience this means we need to have the entire brochure written, created, proof and ready for print by the end of the week. Yes, we can do it. No, I'm not happy about it. Why? Simple: my team needs time to create. Creativity moves us forward and creativity takes time. If you have a basic, productive marketing department, you're not doing it right. Productivity gets work done in a short amount of time - that's okay sometimes. But if your team is missing time for creativity, you're missing the key to innovation and success. Creativity propels us forward and drives the metamorphosis of your brand. In this day and age, we need to be constantly challenged, moving our products and marketing efforts to the next level. How do we do this? We give marketing teams time to brainstorm, work together and present the BEST concepts they can. Unfortunately creativity doesn't have an on/off switch. Teams can't just say "Creative Powers Activate!" and produce usable, transformative ideas. Let the team take the time and sit with the ideas, let them ruminate and I promise you, you'll get a stunning result. So, instead of asking "How quickly can I get it?" ask "How much time do you need?"
I first became aware of Shelley Zalis from The Female Quotient at CES 2017. Shelley was given an achievement award from Women in Consumer Technology; when I heard her speak, I knew she was someone I wanted to emulate. Shelley has created an organization empowering women and hands out free advice like candy. I love, love, love it! The Female Quotient (previously The Girls' Lounge) serves as a voice and destination for addressing equality in the workplace. It's a place where women can come together, have their voices heard, network, give/get advice and so much more. As Shelley told us at CES (I'm paraphrasing here), there's power in numbers and when we come together as a group, we won't be invisible. So that's the quick background...but the real purpose of today's blog is to discuss their Modern Guide to Equality. This comprehensive document covers various aspects of equality in the workplace: return on equality, diversity, generational issues and more. This issue specifically covers leadership and how it can make the world a better place. Ready to learn more? Click the picture or visit https://www.thefemalequotient.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MGTE2_WEB-6.15.pdf Taking some today time to reflect on the power of girlfriends. My girls are my rocks - they've been with me through it all. I'm lucky enough to have several groups of women supporting me through different phases of my life. Each group serves a different purpose and role in my life but they're all equally important. Childhood Friends These ladies know it ALL - they've been around from the beginning and they know all the embarrassing stories to prove it. They know everything about me and they know my family. In fact, some of them have become family. I can call them any time, day or night, and I know they'll drop everything to help. High School Friends In high school, I was luckily enough to meet what we call "The Crew". One of the things I love most about this group is that it's made up of siblings! I'm on the "older" end (we're all basically the same age but when you're two years older in high school, it seems so different) and my brother is on the "younger" end. This is the group I go to for all the laughs. We are so silly and they're the first people to turn my bad day around. Whether celebrating a birthday or just sitting on the couch staring at the phone, this group is always up for a hang. College Friends Before I went away to college, I told my mom I'd never "buy my friends" by joining a sorority. That changed quickly when I met the ladies of TriDelta. I was just 17 when I started college and could not have made it through four years without this group. They've seen my wild side and loved (no, really, they did!) all of my pranks. These days, I am so proud of this group of women. Literally every one of them is a success in their chosen career field. They have the BEST job advice. Whether we're reminiscing about our "good old days", talking about marriage and babies or contemplating a new job, we're always supportive of each other. #AVTweeps I've spent the last 11 years loving all my ladies in the AV world. This strong, fierce group of women represents a minority in our industry with pride. They're so friendly, welcoming and always willing to lend a hand. I love that I can reach out to any one of them at any time for anything. While I've made these friends through work, these are friendships that have extended into home life and I'm proud to call this great group of women my tribe! As I'm writing this list, I realized I have SO many girlfriends that don't even fit into one of these categories. There is nothing more powerful than female friendship and man I am lucky to have such an amazing squad. I challenge you to reach out today and tell your girlfriends how much they mean to you! |
AuthorMegan A. Dutta Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|