The Salesby5 Blog

How many companies really use technology to save money or make money or build teams? Salesby5 has a very high standard for hiring, mostly based on individual strengths and capabilities. We look for people who believe in our core values and can represent our brand extremely well. After interviewing here, I (Sarah) felt honored to be chosen. I believe that every member of our team feels proud to be a part of such a special group.

About two months ago, some things in my life changed, and I decided to move away from San Antonio. Rather than fearing for my job, I went straight to Erik and told him about my situation. We chose to put our state of the art technology to the test! With the use of our BlackBerry devices, Dell laptops equipped with shared calendars and contacts by Microsoft Outlook, google talk, a Sprint Air Card during the move, and Foonz conference call service, I have managed to stay an important part of the team. What we do and how well we do it have not changed. Among other responsibilities, Erik and Nan rely on me for all of their scheduling from nearly 1,000 miles away. Great technology is one thing that our team could not afford to sacrifice. This is the future of the work environment. Are you investing in great technology? And if so, are you using it to better your team?

Huddles seem to be one of the most underrated and misunderstood habits that we prescribe to new and old clients.  The reasons excuses are endless:

1. “We have 70 people.” or “We only have three people.”
2.  “How can you solve problems in 10 minutes?”
3.  “We don’t have time for another meeting.”

With huddles, it doesn’t matter the size of your team because they’re scalable.  We started with three people on our huddles, we’re now up to six and they continue to be of high value.  Our friends at The Scooter Store have over 1500 employees with cascading huddles across states and time zones.

During these huddles, the entire focus is on communication, not problem solving.  It doesn’t matter if people are in front of you or on the phone.  In our huddle we talk about personal or business news, today’s top 3 priorities and hurdles.  We make adjustments according to hurdles and will move priorities around when changes are needed.  If problems arise, we take them offline to be solved after the huddle.  Huddles are not for solving problems.  Bottom Line:  For C-Levels, managers and supervisors, the huddles teach them where the hurdles are as well as the priorities versus making assumptions.

The use of huddles is actually a more efficient use of time instead of people sharing news and priorities individually throughout the day.  Why not communicate everything at once, in an efficient manner instead?

Get started with your huddles this week.  Pick someone to run them.  Then, pick an unusual time (preferably in the morning, never the afternoon) – ours is at 9:15 AM.  Have everyone stand up to keep the huddle moving.  Give it a shot, then come back and tell us how they’re working for you in a month!  See what you’re missing.

Huddle Agenda

 I recently discovered the value of outside the office team building experiences after the Final Four.  The Salesby5 team spent hours together on Saturday, working until the game started, and then playing until late in the night.  After volunteering, we all changed into comfortable clothes.  For the first time, we spent time together as people, not colleagues.  We got to see each other’s humor, intelligence, and overall personality.  When we came to work on Monday, we all had a better idea of what kind of people we all are.  We had shared an experience as a team that gave us closeness and trust.

Team building experiences bond employees together in a way that makes work more fun.  When we look forward to coming to work, our attitude is remarkably different.  When we are comfortable around our co-workers, we don’t shy from communication.  We then have the room to play to our strengths, share our weaknesses, and work together.

By the way, I am Sarah, the newest member of the Salesby5 team!

You may remember the post about Playing to Your Strengths recently, where we talked about a Strength being something that strengthens you and fulfills you while a Weakness is something that drains you or weakens you. 

Here’s how to start figuring out where your strengths and weaknesses lie – write it down!  Write down the activities you love doing and those things that you procrastinate doing.  After doing this for a week or two, look back and see what themes developed.  Did it matter who/when/why/how you were doing this?  Some people prefer to communicate over the phone while others prefer via email.  To some the communication method doesn’t matter.  Details like this can make the difference between enjoying your day and living perpetually annoyed at work, or worse.

So pay attention to those activities that fulfill you… embrace them.  Figure out how to shift your day from your weaknesses to your strengths.  We can help you, find out more here.