For this trip, I took Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, by Verne Harnish. I had the pleasure of seeing Verne speak at the ConnectWise Partner Summit back in November and brought his book home, earmarked to read. This trip, I read it.

Business books are key to being an effective leader in your organization. As a leader, your role is to bring new ideas and help your customers, your team, and your organization move into the future. Harnish takes a very practical approach to growth, and outlines his thoughts on planning.

Harnish focuses on the rhythm of business, and it led me to think about the heartbeat of our own business. As service providers, we often focus on the flow of service tickets, Service Level Agreements and our delivery of them, our utilization numbers, and any myriad of statistics that ensure good service delivery.

But are we helping our teams establish a rhythm? Harnish talks about the benefits of the patterns of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual meetings to help teams come together and know where they are toward reaching their goals.

Goals are vital to our success, particularly as a Managed Services Provider, and in order to be successful with a goal setting strategy, we need to take the time to set goals, understand how to measure success, and how to drive those successes.

As business owners, we often get lost in the mechanics of operations. We spend too much time working “in” the business, rather than work “on” the business. (Hectic days will do that!) It’s a challenge to strike the right balance between the two, but it’s vital to master. Our teams depend on us setting the right goals and establishing the rhythm of the organization, but we often focus too much on the metrics of the business and not enough on helping our teams become effective in achieving them.

To execute those goals we need to march step by step, in unison, in the same direction. A rhythm of meetings and checkpoints are incredibly important in making this happen.

Now this is all great in theory, but what are some practical things that you can do to establish this? Here are some ideas.

Goal setting. Set yourself a schedule, and take the time to review your goals. Do you set goals on an annual basis, and define steps on a quarterly basis to achieve it? You need to. Take the time.

Thinking time. To establish those goals, you need time. Set aside some time to dream. If you don’t have the time to think about the future, how can you head toward it?

Set the rhythm. Set an established pattern for your business. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual patterns are important. Keep to a schedule, and make it a priority for your business.

These steps sound simple, but they’re vital to making your business a success.

As I deplane, I highly recommend Verne Harnish’s book. It’s a great place to start on your planning of each of the steps you need to take to be successful.

I’ll start my assessment by saying that I have long believed that alone, certifications do not necessarily indicate the technical skill of an engineer. I know a number of engineers who don’t hold any certifications who I consider incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly capable, and I’ve known engineers who hold a number of certifications who I wouldn’t let touch a single one of my customer’s systems. A certification alone does not make for a measurement of an engineer.

IT, unlike medical and law practices, does not have a regulated system of ensuring that an IT firm is capable. Thus, we need to use a different set of criteria to judge technical skills.

From an engineer’s perspective, getting a certification shows an investment in their own education and becoming a better technician. It can show their interest in technology, their investment in themselves and their dedication to the field. I tend to look at the power of trends here. When an engineer keeps acquiring certifications, I know that they are interested in what they do, looking to continue to advance themselves, and looking to take on new challenges. An engineer who achieves a certification and never moves further, however, leaves an indication that they are not as dedicated.

From a business owner’s perspective, certifications give me a sense of what is important to my vendor partners and what areas I should continue to focus on. A series of exams tell me which products are of interest, and do give me a perspective on what my engineers should know.

From our vendor partner’s perspective, certifications let them know our commitment to their programs, and our level of engagement. If we take the time to invest in their training programs, they know we have a level of commitment to working with their technologies well. This ensures we can be capable of delivering solutions to a standard.

With customers, certifications show the level of commitment that an organization has to their partners and to their field. Again, alone they aren’t an indication of capabilities, but in conjunction with an organization’s references and capabilities, they give indications on how well an organization can serve them.

In short, certifications show investment, trending, and commitment, but alone aren’t an indicator of capabilities. Building your certifications up in your organization should be a part of your investment in training, but not the only effort made.

I do think it’s important to single out two organizations that take their certifications very seriously in the small business IT consulting realm. Both Microsoft and CompTIA have invested considerably in ensuring that their certifications have measurable value, and as part of a comprehensive training plan are keystones. In fact, for organizations that are looking for their first certifications, this is always where I steer them.

At my firm, our 2010 training plans include a combination of certifications and technical activities that engineers must accomplish to ensure they keep their skills moving forward. This allows us to give them targets of what they should invest in. We don’t use them as the sole indication of their ability, but for the reasons above, it gives us a sense of their capabilities, and a way to further their own careers. Certifications are one piece of ongoing training and education, but certainly not the only one!

Evolve Technologies will present an overview of the new Windows 7 operating system from Microsoft. For everyone that enjoyed the funny Mac commercials and avoided the Vista operating system you will want to attend this event. See all of the new features, learn how it will affect your business and what it will take to deploy in your organization. This session will also include: Windows 7 deployment strategies, demonstrations of Windows server 2008, solutions for remote and mobile users, and Server Virtualization.
As you’re one of our valued customers, we wanted to give you a personal demonstration of the new Windows® 7 Professional operating system. Attend this special event and discover how this powerful combination of innovation, improved performance, and productivity:

• Works the way you want. It’s fast, reliable, and compatible.
• Helps you get more done. It’s easy-to-use and navigate.
• Safeguards your work. It offers comprehensive recovery and security options.

Is your company ready for Windows 7? Attendees of the event will qualify for a Windows 7 & Virtualization Assessment at no cost (a $3,000.00 Value).

Register Now

Enjoy!

http://duanwz.com/cdlg

The Power of Community in how we work with others to help our customers.

If you’re interested, link here! (No embedded video, I’m afraid!

http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/video/0,297151,sid96_gci1361749,00.html

For our customers, it’s something we’re going to actually start offering leading up to the launch. If you’re interested in getting Windows 7 in your office to try, let us know. We’re looking for a few customers interested in trying it out!!

SM004 Marketing Survival Strategies for the Attention Economy
Presenter: Jeremy Epstein
Tue 7/14 | 2:00 PM-3:00 PM | 225-227

Curious about the impact Social Media Marketing can make on your business? Attend this session and understand the ‘Power of Permission’ where customers have more power than ever to decide who gets through and who doesn’t. Discover critical strategies for thriving in the ‘Attention Economy’ created by the Social Media phenomenon. Learn to leverage the ‘Ridiculous Reach of the Individual’ where with one click you or I can tell hundreds or thousands of people that we like or hate a product/service.

Session Type: Breakout Session
Track: Sales and Marketing
Level: Introductory

Jeremy Epstein
Marketing Navigator, Never Stop Marketing

A “Marketing Navigator for the Attention Economy,” Jeremy helps his clients turn their communities of “raving fans” into their best marketers.. Jeremy spent almost 6 years at Microsoft developing revenue-producing communities and authoring one of Microsoft’s most successful marketing blogs (over 110k views/month). A two-time entrepreneur, with international business experience in Germany and Japan, and a passionate technologist (don’t get him started), Jeremy’s current clients include Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Yes To Carrots, and NY Times best-selling author, Dan Pink . Jeremy specializes in building scalable Community Driven Marketing engines, a patent-pending process for identifying, cultivating, and activating an organization’s Raving Fans as a marketing asset.

Title: WiFi: Can’t I just buy any thing? What you need to know

Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/769509035