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Adventures in Businessing

Adventures in Businessing (AIB) is the culmination of over 60 years in organizational leadership experience between three best friends and business partners. Discover the how working together should work.
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Now displaying: Page 2
Jun 3, 2021

Show Notes:

 

  • [0:00:50] Episode Summary | Intro

 

  • THE Jeremy Moore?
  • 2nd Vaccine Preparation & Anxieties
  • Last Episode Recap
    • Building and Developing Your Team

 

  • [0:04:35] Getting Philosophical About Communication

 

  • Why Communication Isn’t ‘One-Size-Fits-All’
  • Dangers of Treating Distributed Communication Like You’re Collocated
    • How this is applicable to all areas of your life. 
    • “It started with pagers.”
  • Always On, “As Soon as Possible” Culture is a Problem
    • Activity is not to be confused with progress. 
    • If you’re always available, when can you ever hope to do ‘deep work’?
    • Anxiety induced by not being available, or forgetting your phone. 

 

  • [0:14:08] Story Time: Communication Awareness

 

  • Developing Our Own Communication Tool
    • The justification, the goal, the whys and what-ifs.
  • Permissions to Interrupt
    • Is it healthy, or reasonable?
  • Not Having Little ‘Red Dot’ Notifications Waiting for You is Liberating
    • It takes time to reset your expectations and definition of work vs busy work. 
  • You’re More Than a Response Machine
    • Responding to notifications can feel productive, but it can kill creativity and progress by way of context switching. 

 

  • [0:20:09] Maybe There’s a Better Way Than Always On

 

  • Training and Retraining Around Communication Expectations
    • We have been conditioned to get notifications and respond immediately.
    • The list of items that require immediate attention in your organization is MUCH smaller than you’re willing to admit. 
    • Retraining “I need to know right now” is the major hurdle. 
    • The vast majority of “need to know” items can be saved for when you explicitly choose to engage with your email, phone, etc. 
  • Be Willing to Shift Your Understanding of Urgent & Important
    • You’re probably thinking: “But what if we have an emergency?”
      • Here’s why it’s probably NOT an emergency. 

 

  • [0:24:50] We Tend to “Solve” Management Problems with Software

 

  • The Bigger Problem: 
    • How and when you do, or do not, communicate with team members.
  • Don’t Be Selfish
  • Putting Out Little Fires Prevents You From Accomplishing the Meaningful

 

  • [0:29:03] There Are Emergencies

 

  • But they’re so much fewer than you think they are. 
  • Document and define emergencies, which details on how and when to respond. 
    • Clarity on what is actually an emergency is very important, but use emergencies sparingly. 
  • Don’t let tools dictate how you run your business. 
    • Slack is a perfect example of this. 
      • Why James won’t log into Slack anymore. 

 

  • [0:32:49] Closing Thoughts

 

  • “We all need more margin.” 
  • “Slower and more intentional is usually better.”
  • Next Time on AIB  
May 27, 2021

Show Notes

 

  • [0:00:48] Episode Summary | Intro

 

  • Standing Energy
  • What Happens In Between F.I.T.ness Check-ups?

 

  • [0:02:10] Recap of Last Episode’s Quarterly F.I.T.ness Check-in

 

  • If you’re only having conversations every three months, or annually, something is wrong. 

 

  • [0:03:46] People Want Regular Feedback

 

  • Team Members Want Clarity & Shared Understanding
    • Even if they’re low maintenance, and keep their head down, working hard...they still want and need the feedback. 
  • Why Weekly vs Less Frequently
    • Generally, the more frequently you meet, the shorter your meetings will be overall. 
    • If you schedule weekly, and you have to miss one, you’re not losing alot, whereas if you miss a monthly, you could be letting major agenda topics slide by for too long. 
  • Don’t Make Your 1:1s All About Task LIsts & Project Management
  • Stick to Your Time Frame
    • Don’t be afraid to push agenda items off to the following week’s 1:1.
    • It’s not the end of the world if you can’t meet for one week. 
  • Don’t Make it so Clinical That it’s Not Meaningful

 

  • [0:11:45] On Misfit Pairings of Employee & Role

 

    • It’s so important to have and stick to an agenda for 1:1s.
  • [0:13:20] Manager’s Guide to 1 on 1s
    • https://ciircles.com/1on1/
    • 1:1s are about establishing connection with your direct report: 
      • Establishing Empathy 
      • Understanding Goals 
      • Laying Growth Path 
      • Providing Clarity
      • ...not just about the tasks & projects. 
    • Invest Time and Energy in Your Team
      • It’s Worth It

 

  • [0:16:28] The Hard Truths

 

  • It’s hard, it takes time, but it’s your job as a manager and/or leader.
  • Do it right and you have allies in the business, do it wrong (or not at all) and you have opponents. 

 

  • [0:17:58] Is There an Ideal Number of Direct Reports?

 

  • 20% of your time should ideally be spent on nurturing your communication and connection with your team members. 

 

  • [0:19:28] Don’t Let Your 1:1s be Manager Driven

 

  • Let Your Team Members Set the Agenda
  • You Will Have to Train Team Members on How the 1:1 Works
    • Communicate and Enforce What the 1:1 is For, The Purpose & Goal
      • Some will take to this really quickly, for others it will take time and experience. 
  • 1:1s Are a Great Way to Practice Collaboration
  • Active Listening & Taking Notes is Powerful for You and the Employee’s Rapport
    • Actually caring, and listening is a very good thing.

 

  • [0:26:12] Think About the Best Manager You Ever Had

 

  • Odds are that one of the things that made them the best was that they genuinely cared about and believed in you.
  • You May be a Diamond in the Rough
    • Let’s be honest, there are those who establish routine communication and good rapport so well, so regularly, that they may not need an explicit weekly 1:1.
  • Be the Manager Who Remembers Your Team Members’ Children’s Names

 

  • [0:28:33] Parting Words | Recap

 

May 20, 2021

Show Notes

  • [0:00:42] Episode Summary | Intro 
  • Music to Get You Going
  • Brief F.I.T.ness Recap
  • [0:04:00] Measuring F.I.T.ness
  • Organizations Change, Businesses Change, People Change
    • You Have to Evaluate That
  • Recommendation: Quarterly F.I.T.ness Check-ins
  • Catch Issues or Tensions Before They Fester
  • Check-ins Directly Combat Ambiguity
    • “With my team, one thing I always say is: if anything in this meeting is surprising to you, then I (the manager) haven’t done a good job.” - Jeremy
  • Your Check-ups are a Confirmation of Alignment or Misalignment
    • They should not be where you identify proper or improper alignment for the first time.
  • Everyone Either Has or Knows of a Review Horror Story
    • Be the cure, not the symptom. 
    • Don’t be nearsighted in your reviews.
      • Let team members know they aren’t being evaluated solely by this one quarterly check-up. 
  • Frequency is a Delicate Balance for F.I.T.ness
    • Regular check-ups not being about money/salary help enforce empathy, and strengthen your goal as a manager to make your team members better at their jobs.
  • [0:14:23] The Evaluation
  • Keep it Short, Keep it Simple
    • On Scoring 1-5
      • The phrasing is more important than the number.
  • You Want Challenge
    • Boredom is the enemy of challenge.
    • Caution: too much challenge can cause burnout or defeatism.
  • You Want Success Over Failure
    • But when failure occurs, you want individuals to have the liberty to fail forward. 
  • Identify Trends
    • Recurring instances of over or under achieving are worth acting on. 
      • Has there been a dip in motivation or progress?
      • Why is this person excelling so far beyond that of their expectation?
      • Is this person in the right role?
  • It Begins and Ends with Clarity

 

  • [0:24:02] Words to the Wise
  • Tricky Instances to Be Aware of
  • Elaborating on ‘The Middle is the Best’
    • You want to be in the middle in the evaluation scoring.
  • [0:28:25] Parting Words
  • Identify Tensions & Note Your Wins 
    • Encourage others to canonize and share their wins! 
      • Especially during the F.I.T.ness check-ups.
  • Next Time on AIB
    • “What Do You Do Between the Check-ups?“
      • Spoiler: 1on1s (Stay Tuned)
May 19, 2021

Show Notes

  • [0:00:47] Episode Summary | Intro
  • F.I.T.ness Overview
    • Faculty
    • Initiative
    • Temperament
  •  A Place for Alliteration 
  • [0:04:45] Understanding Why Team Members May Be Unhappy in Their Role 
  • They may be in the wrong place, doing the wrong work, or have the wrong temperament for the type of work they’re doing. 
    • You have to be flexible as an organization, hopefully without differing straight to letting the employee go.
    • Though it’s important to acknowledge not every individual will be a fit for your culture and organization.
  • [0:08:00] Does X Person Have the F. I. and T. to be on Your Team?
  • Analyzing & Measuring Faculty, Initiative, and Temperament
    • Determining F.I.T. May Mean Something Different to You and Your Organization
  • For Our Company, We’ve Found Temperament to be the Most Important Measurement 
    • You Have to Determine What’s the Right Temperament Your Team
    • Temperament is the Hardest to Teach...and Change
      • It’s Also the Most Sensitive Topic
  • [0:16:26] Recommendation: Hire Slow, Fire Slow
  • Take Time to Determine F.I.T. 
    • You Can Train Over Most F.I.T. Challenges
      • You Should Be Trying to Help Team Members Through the Obstacles
      • What Do They Have Going on in Their Lives, How Can You Help?
        • Even if we don’t want to admit it, personal life can and will bleed into work.
        • Empathy and communication are key.
        • You HAVE to ask questions about connection, collaboration, and clarity.
  • [0:20:24] How Do We Measure & What Does F.I.T.ness Look Like in Practice?
  • Recommended (Recurring) Quarterly Check-in
    • But keep the conversation going in between quarterly check-ins. 
  • F.I.T.ness Changes 
    • It changes, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for worse.
    • F.I.T.ness is never static.
  • Confirm F.I.T. on the front end: during hiring and onboarding. 
  • [0:25:34] Closing Thoughts
  • F.I.T. Operates with the ‘C’s and ‘P’s, Not in A Vacuum 
    • Clarity
    • Collaboration
    • Connection
    • Passion
    • Purpose
    • Progress
  • If you don’t take the time to figure out your ideal F.I.T., you’ll end up putting square pegs in round holes. 
    • This ultimately hurts the new hire, and the team at large.
      • The ripple effect here doesn’t stop when you let someone go. 
  • By acknowledging and keeping up with F.I.T. you can minimize the repercussions of not getting it right...because you’re not going to always get it right. 
  • Companies & Culture Change Over TIme
    • What’s F.I.T. Today May Not be F.I.T. Tomorrow
May 6, 2021

Show Notes

  • [0:00:43] Episode Summary | Intro
    • Regional Seasonal Allergy Woes
    • Last Episode Recap
      • Takeaways on Motivational Drivers
  • [0:03:25] What Are the Cornerstones of Motivation?
    • Deep Diving on The 3 ‘C’s:
      • Connection
      • Clarity
      • Collaboration
        • How they all work off of and benefit from one another. 
        • Collaboration as an accountability tool. 
    • Whatever you’re trying to accomplish, identifying the cornerstones you’re lacking will allow you to intentionally focus on and develop them.
  •  [0:13:27] Practical Breakdown of How the 3 ‘C’s Actually Interact with Each Other
    • Each overlapped ‘C’ (on the venn diagram of fulfillment) creates a ‘P’ (Passion, Purpose, Progress)
      • Clarity + Collaboration = Progress
      • Collaboration + Connection = Passion
      • Connection + Clarity = Purpose
        • What you’re doing has to matter...to YOU. 
        • You have to love what you’re doing. 
        • What you’re doing has to make an impact you can quantify. 
  • [0:21:45] “Does a Tree Falling in the Forest Make a Sound if No One is There to Hear?”
    • Measure AND Celebrate Your Wins
      • Don’t jump into “the next” before acknowledging what just was. 
      • Nobody can feel Progress if you simply move right onto the next thing. 
  • [0:23:25] Lifecycle of a Business Related to the 3 ‘C’s
    • In the early days you don’t need everything. 
      • It helps to start strong in one or two ‘C’s.
      • You WILL need them all over time, by the individual and as an organization. 
        • Like anything living, it ebbs and flows, and it has to be nurtured. 
  • [0:25:25] How Switching From In-office to Distributed can Shift Your Clarity, Connection and Collaboration 
    • When we first went distributed, our Clarity shrank and suffered FAST.
      • Now that remote work is the norm for us, Connection is the prime challenge. 
        • Focus on those challenges; those tensions will reveal creative ways to approach them head on with confidence. 
    • Recommended Quarterly Check-in Review
      • Regularly ask your team things like: 
        • “Where can we grow as a team?” 
        • “What does our team need to be more successful?” 
        • “How can we improve things for you?”  
  • [0:28:44] Parting Words
    • Food for Thought Until the Next Episode
    • Next Time we’ll Start in on a New Series Topic:
      • “What makes great teams & team members?”
      • “How do you protect your business by having the right people in the right roles for your organization?”
May 6, 2021

Show Notes

 

  • [0:00:56] Episode Summary | Intro

 

    • Previous Episode Recap
      • Difference Between Engagement & Fulfillment

 

  • [0:03:00] Drivers of Fulfillment:

 

    • Unpacking the 3 ‘P’s
      • Passion:
        • ‘I love the work that I do.’
      • Purpose:
        • ‘The work that I do matters.’
      • Progress:
        • ‘I’m having an impact on the work that matters.’

 

  • Progress is NOT to be Confused with Productivity

 

    • Which ‘P’ Means the Most to You?
    • How to Assist Employees (and Anyone) with Passion, Purpose, and Progress

 

  • [0:12:18] Ways in Which We Help Our Team See Progress Now

 

    • Coming to terms with your business or management mistakes by failing forward. 
    • Be a Cheerleader!
    • Course correcting too soon or too often can prove catastrophic to the goal of fulfillment. 
    • Letting employees drive their own progress.
    • Do you need all 3 drivers to be fulfilled?

 

  • [0:17:03] The 3 ‘P’s & Symbiotic Professional Relationships

 

    • How/why James & Kevin have succeeded as business partners thru Passion, Progress, and Purpose.
    • Clarifying your business & personal Passion, Purpose, and Progress can (and will) yield positive results & shared understanding.

 

  • [0:21:36] You Can’t Simply Define Fulfillment Broadly for All

 

    • It’s Different for Everyone
      • What drives you might not drive anyone else. 

 

  • [0:22:29] Analyzing the 3 ‘P’s in Your Employee 1:1s & Reviews/Assessments

 

    • Your employees don’t have to be at an 11 out of 10 on Passion, Purpose, and Progress.
      • It’s a shifting scale, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

 

  • [0:25:41] How Do We Impact & Help Your Team See Your Passion, Purpose, and Progress?

 

  • Next episode:
    • The Three ‘C’s
      • Clarity
      • Collaboration
      • Connection
    • Clarity + Collaboration = Progress
    • Collaboration + Connection = Passion
    • Connection + Clarity = Purpose
May 6, 2021

Show Notes

  • [0:00:57] Episode Summary | Intro
    • Jeremy’s Banjo Aspirations
    • Last Episode Recap
      • Fulfillment Theory Quickstart Guide
  • [0:03:42] The Ultimate Goal
    • Helping Our Teams Find Fulfillment
    • Employee Engagement
      • It Changes With the Season
      • “You can have engagement without fulfillment, but you can only have fulfillment through being engaged.”
      • When Time Tracking Breaks Down
        • Time tracking is what most businesses monitor toward engagement, but it’s the opposite of what employees want and need to feel engaged.
    •  Engagement is More Than the Work You Can See
      • Why Common Attempts at Engagement Fall Flat
      • Burnout Awareness
      • Engagement Gimmicks & Initiatives 
      • Sustainability
    • Getting Engagement Wrong
      • Early Failings of Our Own Business
      • Fun Doesn’t Directly Translate to Fulfilled
        • Fulfillment HAS to be Purposeful
      • Fulfillment & Engagement 
        • Two terms that are too often mistakenly used to explain the same thing.
          • You can be active and busy and not be fulfilled. 
          • Engagement is an output of fulfillment. 
  • [0:15:16] What is Fulfillment & How Do We Track That?
    • The Components of Fulfillment
      • The 3 ‘P’s
        • Passion:
          • ‘Do I love the work that I’m doing?’
        • Purpose:
          • ‘Do I feel like the work that I do matters?’
        • Progress:
          • ‘Do I feel like the work I am doing is making an impact?’
  • [0:21:32] Issues & Challenges with Progress...and Fulfillment
    • Hindsight is 20/20 
      • How We’ve Failed Certain Employees in the Past
        • Robbing Individuals of Progress
    • You’re not helpless when you know what drives your team. 
    • How these things can be applied to your personal life and relationship as well.
  • [0:27:12] Paying it Forward with AIB
    • We’ve made a lot of mistakes in order to get here. 
      • Learn from us to hopefully not make those same mistakes. 
      • Celebrate wins, but when you fail, fail forward by learning from it. 
  • [0:29:45] Parting Words & Next Time on AIB
    • Diving into Motivational Drivers of Fulfillment
      • Why They’re Powerful
      • And Why They Really Work
May 6, 2021

Show Notes

  • [0:01:03] Episode Summary | Intro
    • “We’re back! ...All things considered.”
    • The Pandemic Pivot 
    • From In-office to Running the Business Remotely
      • Thanking (and coincidently) we chose this for ourselves pre-pandemic.
    • Acquiring and Consolidating a WordPress Plugin
  • [0:05:51] Why We Took a Year and a Half Off 
    • Missing Podcast Voice
      • ‘Where’s Rob?’
    • Adventures in Businessing’s (AIB) new direction and new purpose:
      • Leadership, team building, and the Ciircles fulfillment theory. 
  • [0:12:21] Breaking Down the Transition From In-office to Fully Distributed
    • From operating out of one town, to having employees around the world. 
    • In defense of colocated working...and why it wasn’t feasible for us anymore. 
    • Growing Pains
      • “We experienced a crash course on distributed working.”
      • With AIB, we want to help other businesses make these sorts of transitions. 
  • [0:17:22] Ciircles.com, the New Home of AIB
    • What is Ciircles?
    • Intentionally Misspelled 
      • “Ciircles? Why two ‘i’s?”
    • Subscribe to the newsletter!
  • [0:21:53] Unpacking Fulfillment Theory
    • Work Isn’t Linear
    • Fulfillment is Driven by 3 Major Drivers of Motivation:
      • Passion
      • Progress
      • Purpose
        • “When these drivers are triggered, your team members are fulfilled, and we all want to be fulfilled.”
  • [0:25:50] What’s Next?
    • Summarizing what to expect from the next 3 episodes of AIB
    • Why you should keep tuning in, whether you’re a business owner, leader, or team member. 
    • Thank You! And Welcome Back!!

Dec 10, 2018

Introduction

What gets you pumped? Does the sound of our theme song get you in the mood to talk about business? Apparently, Jeremy, Rob, and Kevin can’t be counted on to do the podcast without hearing the theme music. Much to James’ chagrin, Rob and Jeremy give everyone a taste of the acapella version of the intro made famous in the Jamesisode.

Do the hosts have a plan for this episode? Is there a concrete topic? Will they stop congratulating themselves on recording for two whole weeks in a row? Let’s find out in the next section!

The Show

Nope. There’s not a topic. It’s more of the free-wheelin’, off-the-cuff antics that you should have come to expect from this podcast.

Some talking points:

  • Saturday Drive had an awesome Christmas Party.
  • Rob is being tricked into joining the Saturday Drive team.
  • Kevin is dominating the Saturday Drive fantasy football league.
  • What do the hosts’ businesses do during the slow month of December?

Tips & Tricks

Kevin’s tip is to not be a fan of the University of Tennessee Football Volunteers. If you’re just now getting into this college football thing, you should just pick a winner. This obviously wouldn’t be Tennessee, a team who’s last bit of national relevance disappeared before any of the current players were even conceived. I hear Alabama is going to be great for a while.

Rob wants you to buy your kids a very special hoverboard. Not just any hoverboard, but a real Mozzie board! Apparently this board will help your child not fall off and break their arms, legs, or other appendages. Kevin and James correctly object to this product being called a hoverboard, since they have seen the Back to the Future movie franchise starring Michael J. Fox, and the Mozzie hoverboard does have wheels. If your kids want to ride on a fake hoverboard, buy them a Mozzie brand hoverboard, I guess.

If you’re interested in launching or hosting a podcast, James recommends that you check out PodPub. PodPub is a service built by the pocket protector crowd that will host your podcast, your feed, as well as a professionally designed website. If you want to get a podcast off the ground, let the bespectacled nerds PodPub do all the tech stuff for you.

Do your children constantly get mocked for their clothing choices? Are they social outcasts because they just don’t know a cardigan from a Kardashian? If so, Jeremy recommends getting your kids’ fashion game on point by using a service like Stichfix. It probably won’t help your offspring become more likable, but other kids will be less likely to banish them to the AV table at lunch.

Nov 30, 2018

Introduction

This show kicks off with the hosts discussing the merits of different podcast schedules. They then have an internal discussion about when and where to record. Believe me, this makes for extremely riveting audio. It’s like the Serial podcast without all the interesting content.

After they sort out how frequently they record, they discuss Giving Tuesday and discover that they are all old and have no idea where new trends come from.

Jeremy then discusses how easy it is to get him to buy things with email marketing, as well as the fact that he bought a Peloton cycling bike. He doesn’t mention whether or not he is paying for the monthly subscription to ride a bike, but he also doesn’t give out an affiliate code, which is unexpected.

The Show

I’m not gonna lie. This is a weird one. There really doesn’t appear to be a single topic; the hosts just sort of ramble about several different things, so I’m just going to give you a bullet list.

  • Black Friday sales
    • James don’t do ‘em.
  • Email Marketing
    • Jeremy is a sucker for good email marketing. Rob doesn’t market via email, even though he is a marketer.
  • Facebook Advertising
    • James wants a Facebook feed that’s nothing but ads.
    • Rob discusses whether or not Facebook is shaping what we think and what we talk about by rewarding certain posts with views.
  • Chinese Social Rating
    • Is there a social rating number being used in China like a credit score? Who knows, but that doesn’t stop our hosts from discussing it.
  • Black Mirror Episodes
    • James mentions season 3 episode 3 of Black Mirror, Nosedive.
    • Black Mirror is too scary for Rob.

Tips & Tricks

Rob has recently purchased a very old car and needs to know why his check engine light keeps coming on. Instead of taking to a mechanic, he recommends purchasing an OBD Code Reader. It’s a little piece of plastic that you plug into your car so that it can tell your phone what’s wrong. Rob has been using it to diagnose his new/old rust bucket. If you want to buy an old car, maybe you should have one too. Or just get a car that works. Whichever.

With all the talk about using Facebook and how amazing and accurate Facebook ads are, Kevin recommends that you stop using Facebook. If you can’t bring yourself to delete your Facebook account outright, at least limit the time that you spend with the Facebook algorithm. He promises that your stress will go down, and you won’t know that your cousin is really into My Little Pony and racism.

Do you like ham? How about bacon? If you said yes to either of those, Jeremy’s recommendation will be right up your alley. Benton’s Country Hams has been smoking ham and bacon, and any other part of the pig, using traditional methods for generations. While their web address makes it look like they don’t know how to internet, Jeremy promises that they know how to ham and bacon. You can find them at https://bentonscountryhams2.com/.

James is right back to form, bringing an app for his recommendation. Any.do allows you to connect task lists and calendars together. He likes it because it pulls in calendars and task lists in the same place, but it also helps you plan your day by using what’s in your calendar and todo list. Be sure to check back next week to see if James is still using this app.

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