The challenge here is always: how does one make a subject fun and engaging when it is already considered drab and dull before we even get started.

The traditional approach is of course to arm yourself with a large deck of power-points outlining the does and don’t of financial management.

That may be how you teach finance – but that is not necessarily the best way to actually learn finance.

So instead we created a scenario that very much resembles their day to day situation, with the problems and pitfalls of real life and had them work through that in teams of 3 – if they got stuck they could ask questions – but essentially they worked it out between themselves – collaborative learning in full bloom – what a pleasure!

Next week we shall take it up a notch…

“Conversations are the way workers discover what they know, share it with their colleagues, and in the process create new knowledge for the organization.
In the new economy, conversations are the most important form of work …so much so that the conversation is the organization.”
—Alan Webber, “What’s So New About the New Economy,” Harvard Business Review

Can webconferences, videoconferences and other virtual meetings really take the place of face-to-face contact?
With travel budgets slashed in the wake of recessionary belt-tightening, companies are increasingly turning to technology as a substitute for in-person contact. Yet business executives overwhelmingly agree that face-to-face meetings are not just preferable but necessary for building deeper, more profitable bonds with clients and business partners and maintaining productive relationships with co-workers.

Predictably the answer to their own survey is that 84% prefer F2F meetings.

But is that the right question to ask if you are trying to understand what is happening in the meeting industry?

Not in my mind it isn’t!

This is the kind of question Kodak asked photographers 5-8 years back: Do you think that digital photos will replace film based photography? No way they all hollered.
This is the question big newspaper publishers asked thier readers 3-4 years ago: “Can you imagine not having a daily morning news paper in print form” Since then a large number of them no longer exist.
This is the question publishing houses where asked 24 months ago “Will the eReader replace books?” – that was before Amazon sold 2 million Kindel’s in 6 months. Now they are not so sure. More on eReaders here

But the reality is this:

This is borne out in Forbes Insights survey, where 58% of respondents said they were travelling for business less today than they were at the beginning of the recession in January 2008, with more than a third (34%) indicating they were travelling much less frequently.

This is my point, it may not be what they prefer – but this is what they do – not because it is better but because it is cheaper, and more convenient.

Surevy: would you prefer to fly Business or Turist?… No brainer right?
But why is tourist class then jam packed and Business reduced to 2 rows that are half empty on many European flights? It is not what we would prefer. It is what we do.

The big danger is that we in the industry stick our heads in the sand as a result of surveys like this – pat each other on the back and knowingly nod to each other: “f2f meeting are better – we know that – they know that. All will return to normal soon, you just wait and see….”

I don’t think so

That is what KODAK thought

The question we should be asking is : Is the market broken? – see this by Seth Godin: “What every mass marketer needs to learn from Groucho Marx”

See also my previous post on this subject: Is the meeting industry doomed?

Read the Forbes Insight survey here

What do you think?

In the ongoing discussion that I have been having on this blog and with clients about the meeting market we also need to ask that question: is it a broken market?

Read this and tell me what you think:

What every mass marketer needs to learn from Groucho Marx

Perhaps the most plaintive complaint I hear from organizations goes something like this, “We worked really hard to get very good at xyz. We’re well regarded, we’re talented and now, all the market cares about is price. How can we get large groups of people to value our craft and buy from us again?”

Apparently, the bulk of your market no longer wants to buy your top of the line furniture, lawn care services, accounting services, tailoring services, consulting… all they want is the cheapest. The masses don’t want a better PC laptop. They just want the one with the right specs at the right price. It’s not because people are selfish (though they are) or shortsighted (though they are). It’s because in this market, right now, they’re not listening. They’ve been seduced into believing that all options are the same, and they’re only seeing price. In terms of educating the masses to differentiate yourself, the market is broken.

Fixing this is almost always a losing battle. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean the market cares any longer.

The Marx Brothers were great at vaudeville. Live comedy in a theatre. And then the market for vaudeville was killed by the movies. Groucho didn’t complain about this or argue that people should respect the hard work he and his brothers had put in. No, they went into the movies.

Then the market for movies like the Marx Brothers were making dried up. Groucho didn’t start trying to fix the market. Instead, he saw a new medium and went there. His TV work was among his best (and certainly most lucrative).

It’s extremely difficult to repair the market.

It’s a lot easier to find a market that will respect and pay for the work you can do. Technology companies have been running this race for years. Now, all of us must.

If Wal-Mart or some cultural shift has turned what you do into a commodity, don’t argue. Find a new place before the competition does. It’s not easy or fair, but it’s true. You bet your life.

[Please note that nothing I wrote above applies to niche businesses. In fact, exactly the opposite does. You can make a good living selling bespoke PC laptops or doing vaudeville today, even though the mass of the market couldn't care a bit. How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know...]

Blatantly copied from one of my favorite blogs Seth Godin - read more here

Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? This video details out social media facts and figures that are hard to ignore. This video is produced by the author of Socialnomics.

October marks the tenth anniversary of the coining of the phrase, “amenity creep.” With all of this new “stuff” for our guests, you would expect to see guest satisfaction scores increase. But the North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study by J.D. Power and Associates showed that overall guest satisfaction has been declining over the past several years.

The key to success isn’t adding more amenities; it is adding more authenticity to your hospitality.

The most successful operators are differentiating themselves by providing authentic hospitality through Systems of Truth and Honest Leadership.

Systems of truth
You can’t put a line in your new hire orientation that says, “give authentic hospitality,” and expect it to happen. It happens as the result of systems and processes that you put into place, which I call Systems of Truth. Two that work in any hotel are:

* Active vs. passive service—Stop asking guests to “call if you need anything,” and start asking them what you can do for them. Don’t wait for the guests to come to you because statistics show they won’t. Solve problems on the spot.
* After action review—Common in the military, this post-event meeting is structured to give honest feedback. Gather employees and let everyone speak as equals. This allows continuous improvement in every aspect of the guest’s path.

Honest leadership
Great operators know that even with exceptional talent, the key to producing results is leadership. Good leadership comes down to one thing: trust. Some suggestions on bringing honesty into leadership:

* 100 percent rule—Tell the whole truth. We have a responsibility to let associates know all of the information, especially the “why.”
* Care to confront—It’s important to be willing as honest leaders to confront even our best associates about their performance. This feedback leads to a long-term trust that can’t be faked.

Our business is all about relationships—the relationships your staff has with your guests and the relationship you have with your staff. That is authentic hospitality.

hwn@questex.com

I am looking forward to being among the 100+ learners convening around authentic leadership in action. It will be a programme rich in design, and also in the diversity and life experience of the people in attendance. Participants are coming from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This learning community, while coming face-to-face for a brief 6-day period, is part of a global movement of community and organizational leaders and followers striving for more effective, more humane living and working environments.

You can download the brochure here

—John Mackey, Chairman & CEO, Whole Foods Market & co-founder, Conscious Capitalism, Inc.

Read more here

Here is Jay’s website with more on informal learning