Business News

Mon Mar 16

How to prepare for a surge in working from home arrangements

Written by Niki Clark

The coronavirus looks like forcing a growing number of companies to adopt a remote workforce, but there needs to be processes and experience in place to ensure a successful transition in response to the health outbreak.

At peer-to-peer car sharing platform Car Next Door, almost half of all staff members work remotely – with team members checking in from Stradbroke Island and the Adelaide Hills as well as the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

Car Next Door co-founder and CTO, Dave Trumbull, said Car Next Door offers its team this level of flexibility because it provides tangible benefits both to the business and to employees.

“Car Next Door has its headquarters in Sydney, but we also offer several co-working offices around the country and the work from home option. Not all roles can be performed remotely, but if it’s work that can be done outside of the office, then we allow that staff member to choose the scenario that best suits them.”

Mr Trumbull shares some tips to help get the most out of your time when working remotely:

Make sure you have the right tools: You need the right tools for easy and efficient remote working – for starters really good video conference software and chat software. Car Next Door uses Zoom for all team meetings, and Slack for day to day communication, Asana for tasks, Google Docs for shared access to working documents.

Work set hours: Set up your own daily and weekly structure – and make sure you stick to it. For example, set your work hours between 8.30am and 5pm so you don’t end up working 24/7.This also helps with productivity during your work hours.

Communication is key: When you work remotely you need to put more effort into communication than you would normally, because you don’t hear the conversation happening around you. That might mean being more upfront than you normally would be about letting team members, or your boss, know what you’re working on. A daily check-in works well, something like: ‘This is what I’m doing today, this is what I did yesterday, this is what is holding me back from what I need to do’.

Solid systems in place: It’s important to make sure that everyone in the team knows what we are doing (OKRs + 4 monthly planning + 2 weekly updates on how we are progressing) and what is expected of them. Everyone in the team has a weekly accountability meeting with their manager - what you did last week, what you are doing.

Time zones: It’s really important there is enough actual overlap of working hours so there is the ability to send communication back and forth, rather than one person signing off when the other is starting.

Let the team know about your achievements: Just because you’re not working in the same office as co-workers and bosses, it’s important to let them know when you are kicking goals.

Have a bit of fun: There’s nothing wrong with using your work chat tools for a joke, or fun banter, every now and then – this light stuff is a good way to get to know your co-workers better – even if life around you is tense.

In 2019, Swinburne University found that 83 per cent of city workers who had working from home arrangements either “loved” or liked” or “loved” it.

Thu Mar 12

The qualities that a good business speaker should have

Written by News Company

Business leaders are always searching for an edge that can make their businesses more competitive than others. You can achieve this by hiring an outsider, such as a business speaker. A great business speaker has to possess specific characteristics for them to deliver the desired results.

If you are thinking of working with one, you need to choose a business speaker that can provide the tools, techniques as well as knowledge that can boost the quality of your business. Pick one that can give your company an advantage in different things such as customer service, technology, and strategy. You can get all this if you take your time in comparing what different business speakers bring to the table. A great one should possess the following qualities.

Experience

Business speakers that have been in the industry for a short duration tend to offer a lot of theories, which can sometimes work. Those who have been operating for years, on the other hand, have a lot of experience that can help them relate theories to the event's topic. Someone with experience can paint a clear picture in the mind of the audience through storytelling. This is an effective tool that can help them engage with the audience better.

The best speakers tell stories from their experiences. This can easily create an excellent atmosphere for the audience to listen. When a business speaker does not have a lot of experience, they tend to shove a lot of information to the audience, hoping that people can retain it. This rarely happens since people don't relate to theories but rather personal experiences of presenters. A story tends to stick in the mind of the audience, making it easy for the business speaker to draw their attention.

Great track record

As you compare different business speakers, you should focus on their track records. One with an excellent track record and a lot of fans can quickly help you achieve your goals. Many people tend to trust people who are competent and confident when making presentations. When a speaker already has a lot of fans, the audience can view them as a credible source. A great business speaker should not only have an excellent reputation but also show a high level of confidence every time they present. Having confidence in the subject can make one more believable and authentic.

Unique message

Though the audience may be familiar with a concept, a great business speaker should be able to deliver the message in a unique way. The problem with some of the speakers is that they keep on repeating ideas in the same way. This can easily make the audience switch off and focus on other things. A great speaker, on the other hand, has a fresh way of bringing some timeless truths to different market conditions and circumstances.

For a great speaker to deliver a unique message, they have to learn how to be authentic. Though rehearsing a speech is essential, memorizing it word for word can prevent one from delivering a unique message. The secret in giving an excellent business speech is in deviating a little from a written presentation and using unique examples that can resonate with the audience. Having a unique message can help a business speaker present a speech that has a great impact on the audience.

Actionable content

The purpose of hiring a business speaker in the first place may be to help you compel a group to take precise action. A great business speaker can help you achieve this by delivering some actionable content during their presentation. Being passionate about something can help a business speaker communicate through their speech and persuade the audience to take a particular action. The speaker should be able to exude sincerity in their emotion so that they can move the audience and persuade them to do something without being too pushy.

Simplifying complex concepts

Being able to give a simple solution to a complex problem is one of the greatest qualities that a business speaker should possess. The best speakers try to simplify a message in a way that the audience can easily understand. They can quickly achieve this by doing in-depth research on a specific topic and finding out all the relevant information to give a quality presentation. A good speaker should not use too many words in explaining a particular concept since they can make things complicated. Keeping a presentation short and sweet without beating about the bush is a good strategy that every business speaker should possess.

If, for instance, you allocate thirty minutes for a speaker to give a presentation, they don't even have to use the entire time to give the speech. Being brief while using the remaining minutes to answer to questions can help such a speaker provide simple solutions to problems. They should make the presentation easy to digest by breaking down information into small chunks. Being open to questions makes a speaker more credible than merely sticking to the conventional style of presentation.

Ability to connect with the audience

As you compare different speakers, you need to choose one that can not only draw the attention of the audience but also promote discussion. A speech is not very different from a regular conversation. During presentations, most people are always on their tablets or phones, checking their emails or browsing. A great business speaker should be able to make the audience put down these devices without coercing them. A great speaker can connect with the audience and draw their attention through different techniques such as using non-verbal communication.

Putting it in writing

You should also choose a business speaker that has published articles or books on different topics. The audience considers such presenters as more credible. They give the public a chance to reinforce their ideas through the published content. Giving a presentation when a speaker already has some published content makes it easy for them to capture the attention of the audience.