The Conference Coach™

I loved the movie “Julie and Julia” and started thinking about the concept of recipes. Recipes not only apply to the art of cooking but also apply to the art of challenging employees to excel in their jobs. As the Director of Customer Care for Copper Conferencing, I work with an elite team of young professionals, many of whom are experiencing their first professional job out of college. As such, we had to think carefully about the right recipe for them.

Copper Conferencing employs a refreshing strategy that is based on the following components: empowerment, accountability and flexibility. The right mixture of these three components yields the perfect recipe for challenging employees to rise to excellence.

First begin by creating an environment of empowerment. Create a team atmosphere where all team members are valued and important. Trust your team, after all you hired them, and assign individuals daily tasks that are crucial to the growth of the company. Then add a layer of open communication where your team members can present new ideas and be appreciated for their brilliance. Make sure to listen to their input. Allow their ideas to “rise” as you analyze them and carefully fold those new ideas into your environment if they apply. Repeat this process and your team members will rise to be analytical thinkers and leaders.

The second ingredient to the recipe is creating a sense of accountability. First gather your team members together and conduct monthly team strategy sessions where the team identifies ways in which processes can be improved, addresses any conflicts and sets their own monthly expectations as a team. Then conduct individual strategy sessions with each team member and ask them to prepare a personal accountability document before the meeting. Repeat this process every month and refer to the last month’s recipe as a baseline recipe.

The last step to the recipe is to pepper in flexibility. Do this by analyzing each team member’s work/life balance and encourage them to take time off of work. Encourage them to get involved in their communities. Join them in a few of those activities and watch their personal growth. At Copper Conferencing a few individuals from the Customer Care Team are attending college and Copper tries to be flexible with school schedules. The more flexible you are with them the more flexible and open they will be to new tasks, processes and acceptance to change within your business.

Once you have baked these principles into your company’s environment, challenge yourself with the same recipe. Mangers need to refresh and add new ingredients to their pantry. Encourage your managers, empower them, hold them accountable and be flexible. Finally, set the table and enjoy the feast that your company will yield from this fantastic recipe of success.

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.