Rainmaking Strategies for Women

by Angela S. Calzone and JP Tolentino

Rainmaking or business development is an essential, yet vastly underdeveloped skill that women should master in order to expand their organizations and help ensure a consistent pipeline of work.  In terms of professional development for women, rainmaking can offer a higher income, more job control and influence in their organization, and can aid them in breaking the glass ceiling that can often separate them from their male counterparts.

It seems however, that rainmaking does not come easily to women. There is less of an opportunity for women to expand an organization’s client base and network to make the connections and build relationships necessary to become successful rainmakers.  Little exposure to rainmaking may also emanate from not being included as part of the marketing team or resultant of a lack of mentoring.  Being influenced by decision makers and deal closers is essential in learning to develop business.   This lack of exposure leads to a shortage of present-day women rainmakers that can mentor future attorneys in business development.

“The imbalance of having fewer rainmakers is having an increasingly negative effect on women.”  In businesses, rainmakers often have higher compensation, rank higher in their organization, and have significant influence over the organization’s strategic direction and other critical decisions.  Rainmakers with more extensive books of business, often find more stability and flexibility in their careers.  Whether remaining with one organization for the duration of their career or choosing to change organizations, the ability to be successful rainmakers gives women more marketability as business developers.   This in turn, affords women further opportunities to advance and seek more prominent positions throughout their career.

Career flexibility is another valuable benefit of business development.  Women who make time for rainmaking, and form good relationships with their clients and referral sources, find that they have much more control over [their] life and [their] schedule. This flexibility is vital for any woman seeking to strike a balance between her work and professional life.  Flexibility can also lead to more rainmaking opportunities in that schedule flexibility allows one to set time aside to network and take time for professional development.

Rainmaking can help women break the glass ceiling. Women that have mastered business development are more likely to have a voice in their organization’s growth, and be appointed to key internal committees.   Rainmaking for women thus acts as the hammer to break the glass ceiling.  Women trained in business development, know how to generate new business, get more clients, and are an asset to their organizations because they have enough business to keep not only themselves but also other associates busy.

With the proper guidance and mentoring, women can overcome the shortage of female rainmakers in organizations today.  Here are a few tips from successful women rainmakers in business:

Networking:  Organized, calculated networking can lead to successful rainmaking.  Schedule time for rainmaking and make it part of the daily routine. Successful business development also requires organization.  This can be as simple as keeping track of who is contacted and the result of the connection was.  A former colleague or law school classmate can provide leads to new business.  Contacting former clients to keep them apprised of “business current events” can generate new or expanded business.  Women lawyers should target groups that can benefit from their experience when networking.

Role Models, Mentors, & Affinity Groups: Women need to take time and learn how to generate new business.  A mentor allows a woman access to a network of clients that would otherwise take years to build.  Women that hold positions of power in an organization and that are successful business developers become role models to younger women at the organization. Affinity groups aimed at helping young women can be a place to learn valuable rainmaking skills.

Training:  Training in business development can help women not only expand their rainmaking opportunities, but also provide longevity to their careers.  Rainmaking is a skill that can be taught.  If organizations invest time and resources into properly training women in the art of business development, then not only would women gain a valuable skill, but the organizations would also reap the benefits.

Teamwork: Working as a team to develop a book of business can help organizations expand their reach.  Collaboration allows women to reach a diverse group of clients through their colleagues who may work in other business areas.  Teamwork, particularly among young women, affords them the opportunity to build their own book of business instead of relying solely on inheriting it from a firm’s more established mentors.

Building individuals books of business and making connections early on can lead to more opportunities throughout a woman’s career.  With mentoring and training still an optional part of professional development, women in business need to take control of the future of their careers and start forming associations that can give them a lifetime of business.

The Difference Between Innovation and Change

by  Christopher D’Marco

Provided our current economic challenges a major constraint facing today’s organizations is not having the time to generate new ideas. Many business owners and executives are so consumed in sustaining the day-to-day of the organization that there is little time left to focus on growing the business. Another way of describing this scenario is all too often business owners are so busy working “in the business,” they neglect to work “on the business.” When this happens an organization is at serious risk of failing.

Faced with excessive firefighting, heavy meeting schedules, strained resources resultant of downsizing and endless multi-tasking, organizations are often left with diminishing returns and remain in a status quo state and subsequently experience limited growth. The challenge is how to find the time (and frankly, the energy) to operate more efficiently, foster greater creativity and focus on the future.

Today, profitability is short-lived. Resultant of today’s rate of change and subsequent obsolescence, the way you’re currently doing business will inevitably be challenged and you will be forced to change. In this scenario, the changes you make are reactionary. The preferred approach to change is proactive whereby your organization identifies an opportunity for change, seizes it, plans for it and implements it successfully.

This is where “innovation” comes into play. Although by strict definition, innovation is analogous to change, there is a growing understanding that innovation is a structured practice and process that precedes change. Whereas change is the end result; the product of innovation. Moreover, transition management is the management practice involving managing the movement, to include varying degrees of disruption, from a current state, preceding the change, to a future state.

When innovation becomes part of the culture; an everyday practice “the way we do business around here,” the result is a change that is often in front of the competition; furthermore the organization is in more control of championing the change and having more time to engage personnel on all levels in a planned, productive and meaningful way.

Empowered with this insight, executives, entrepreneurs and organizational leaders are then justifiably behooved to make the commitment to foster an environment within their organizations that allows the time and space for employees and themselves to visualize and innovate so that proactive and at times breakthrough and disruptive change can take place before their products and services reach maturity and decline.

A benefit of creating an environment and structure that supports ongoing innovation is doing so offers the organization the freedom from being at the mercy of the random “A-ha!” Instead, the A-ha is brought to the organization sooner because it is now part of what’s expected.

Given the very real constraints executives, entrepreneurs and organizational leaders face today, the imperative must be to embrace the interrelationship between innovation, change and transition management so they can inspire, adequately plan for and effectively allocate resources in order to avoid missing top-line growth opportunities, enduring costly project failures and exhausting top performing personnel. And instead, position themselves to be market leaders whose organizations thrive and prosper.

For tips on creating and maintaining a culture and structured process that supports innovation in your organization, please contact Christopher D’Marco at cdmarco@changeandresponse.com.

 

Managing Up

by Danielle E. Yannotti

Managing up is all about anticipating the needs of your supervisor, and acting proactively to meet those needs within the scope of your job.  This can help save time and allows for clearer communication between you and your management team.  Supervisors juggle a variety of responsibilities and thinking ahead to make their job easier can pay off for them and for you.

Here are some easy ways to begin managing up right away!

Acknowledge and respond in your supervisor’s style.  Knowing how your manager thinks is a great advantage for an employee.  If your manager tends to think best through e-mail, send e-mails instead of having formal meetings.  If your supervisor understands content when it is presented in a particular format, even if you are not asked, format the content in that way when presenting a first draft.  Your supervisor will undoubtedly appreciate that you had the foresight to recognize their style of communication and the time you saved them.

Anticipate your supervisor’s needs and proceed accordingly.  When working on a report or project, think about prior work you’ve submitted to your supervisors.  What were you asked to include in your second draft?  Was there anything unnecessary that you were asked to leave out?  Save time and the amount of edits to your work by anticipating what your supervisor is looking for and giving it to them before they have to ask you for it.

Prioritize based on what is most important to your supervisor.  Step into your manager’s shoes to better understand their role in the organization.  Don’t assume you know your supervisor’s agenda until you actually get to know what is important to them, how they see their position and what they believe your role is as an employee.  This information is helpful when trying to determine your relationship with your supervisor and your place in the organization as well.

Keep your supervisor well informed.  Your supervisor should be aware of everything happening in your department or on your team.  Don’t wait to share important information with management, but keep in contact as often as requested.  If a problem arises, go to your supervisor to inform him/her of the problem and offer proposed solutions.

Improving Interpersonal Skills

by:  Danielle E. Yannotti

Creating and maintaining healthy professional, interpersonal relationships is essential for a balanced and productive organization.  Working well with co-workers and clients relies on their ability to trust and respect you.  Listening, working as a team and being clear and honest in your communication is vital for building successful interpersonal relationships.

Here are some tips to help improve and maintain your interpersonal skills:

Be an active listener.  Be present and engaged in conversations, during presentations and when reading e-mails or memos.  Don’t let interruptions distract the flow of information to you.  Actively listening is essential to fostering interpersonal relationships with co-workers.  Being responsive shows co-workers you are interested in what they have to say and you respect them enough to listen.

Encourage team work.  Interpersonal relationships rely on an individual’s ability to interact and support co-workers, especially when working closely on projects.  When you are assigned to a team or a project, support others’ ideas and facilitate discussions to keep everyone involved in the brainstorming and decision making process.  Positive team behavior is integral to cultivating professional relationships.

Don’t complain or criticize.  Remember there is a difference between constructive criticism and negativity.  Be aware of how you respond emotionally in professional situations.  It is easier to bruise your reputation with co-workers than to build sustaining interpersonal relationships.  Instead of complaining or criticizing, make subtle recommendations or assist co-workers with difficult tasks.  Showing your support instead of your negativity will lead to stronger professional interactions.

Use concrete language to avoid misinterpretation and over complicating simple issues.  Effectively communicating with co-workers is a necessary part of an interpersonal foundation.  Be clear and to the point when discussing issues of importance to ensure proper delivery of your message.  This shows you are dedicated to creating a relationship based on trust.

Own and acknowledge.  No one person can have the right answer in every situation. When you are wrong, acknowledging and admitting it avoids confrontation and demonstrates your ability to own up to your mistakes.  Being humble and confident enough in your work to manage conflict sensibly, can save many interpersonal relationships that might otherwise be lost.

Presenting: The Basics

by Angela Calzone

Whether presenting to a current client, a prospective client, the media or your supervisor and team, conveying the correct message is paramount to successful communication.

Here are some basic tips to ensure your audience receives your message:

Know your audience and choose language accordingly.  All audiences need to know what’s in it for them, so begin with that end in mind when planning your presentation content.

A good old fashioned bit of advice on presenting is: “Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em.  Tell ‘em.  Then tell ‘em what you just told ‘em!”  This means clearly outline your message to your audience, state your message in a coherent fashion, and reiterate the strong points of your message.

Keep your message short and to the point.  At most, only convey three major points of information.  The rest will be lost.

Speak at a slower speed than you would a conversation. Give your voice time to project to the room and your audience time to digest your words.

Vary your volume and tone. Keep the audience engaged. A monotonous tone will fall on deaf ears.

Interact with your audience, monitor their reactions and style-flex to keep them engaged.

Meeting Best Practices

1.  Decide if a meeting is really necessary.

Otherwise, send an E-mail or memo.  Unless it is necessary to explain something complicated or garner feedback, don’t take time from co-workers.  They’ll appreciate it and will be more likely to attend future meetings.

2.  Always have an agenda.

An agenda acts a pre-meeting reminder allowing participants to prepare ahead of time.  It also identifies who is reporting and on what topic. An agenda can help organize the flow of the meeting and focuses the group’s attention on the objectives being covered.

TIP: Make sure to give your agenda and any other meetings materials (PowerPoint, articles, graphs, statistics, etc.) to your meeting participants at least 48 hours in advance so they have ample time to review it.

3.  Attend meetings prepared.

Prior to attending the meeting, take the time to review meeting related materials, such as agendas, minutes from the previous meeting, PowerPoint deck, etc. Preparedness allows more focused meeting time and increased meeting productivity. 

4.  Assign roles for each meeting.

Before each meeting, the Meeting Organizer should assign the following roles and responsibilities to meeting participants:

• Agenda Producer & Distributor- Creates, prints, and distributes agendas and other related materials a few days prior to the meeting.
• Organizer- Confirms the meeting time and location, and is the go-to person for any questions or to report an absence or substitution for the meeting.
• Facilitator- May often be the Meeting Organizer, the Facilitator keeps the meeting on track in terms of objective, time and ensuring that meeting guidelines are observed and that every attendee has an opportunity to participate. 
• Time Keeper- Keeps the time per meeting agenda and provides alerts to participants and facilitator as needed.
• Minutes Recorder & Distributor - May often be the Agenda Producer & Distributor, takes clear notes on each participant’s idea as spoken and, only if necessary, writes a modified statement, after being paraphrased, as agreed upon by the originating participant.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

5.  Start and end meetings on time.

Include start and end times for each objective on your agenda.  If you run out of time before you finish a particular agenda item, make a decision to move on and continue the discussion at the next meeting. Otherwise make sure the group agrees to stay on this topic and move the other objectives to a later meeting.

6.  Arrive promptly.

Starting on time will help keep meetings shorter.  If participants are 5 minutes early, the meeting can start as planned and the facilitator won’t have to wait for everyone to arrive.

7.  No cell phones, PDAs, computers, or side conversations.

Unless you are the Recorder, there should be no cell phones or computers used during the meeting.  Also keep private conversations for before or after the meeting.  Everyone should stay focused on the objectives with little interruption to get the most out of the meeting.

8.  Stay on topic.

Follow the objectives listed on the agenda.  This will ensure all ideas on the agenda are given equal opportunity to be discussed and possibly resolved.

9.  All ideas are to be respected, free of criticism and evaluation.

This is especially the case if the meeting objective is to brainstorm.  Meeting participants should be clear that meeting guidelines include offering another option or a compromise. 

10.  Allow one person speak at a time. 

This will avoid confusion and show co-workers they are respected.  Without others constantly interjecting, it becomes easier to actively listen to each speaker and effectively absorb what is being said.

11.  If you cannot make a meeting, inform the meeting organizer you won’t be there.

Informing the organizer of your absence, will let them know you care about the objectives being discussed and shows respect for those who took the time to plan the meeting. It also allows the meeting to start on time if the organizers know who will not be attending.

TIP:  Missing a meeting can mean missing an important information session.  Try to find someone who is familiar with the objectives and ask them to go to the meeting in your place.  Inform the meeting organizer and later you and your substitute can discuss what you missed.

How to Self Manage Change

by Danielle E. Yannotti

The only thing that’s constant is change.  And today with rapid technological advances, social media and digital engagement and a more diverse and intense competition for market dominance, change is speeding at us whether we’re ready or not.

Here are some tips for self-managing change:

Monitor self talk.  You are your biggest roadblock when it comes to accepting change.  What you say to yourself can positively or negatively impact your cause.  Before you begin tearing down new ideas presented to you, remind yourself why this change is necessary or what you can benefit from it.

Be prepared to face change.  If change sneaks up on us it can negatively affect us and cause us to reject it.  Change can happen in an instant and without warning.  Planning in advance for the possibility of change and keeping up with innovations in areas where change is frequent, is an excellent way to come to terms with it and embrace it.

Keep an open mind.  Being close minded is not a functional way to manage change.  If you are closed off to new ideas and wading through uncharted waters, you may never know if a change will be a more efficient way to do something or will be better for your business and career.

Look at change as an opportunity, not a setback.  It is difficult to accept a different way of doing things.  People who are not familiar with a particular change taking place may see the shift as a hindrance. For example, those who reject the use of e-mail may not view virtual communication as satisfactory as compared to an in person or phone conversation.  What they do not see right away, is that technology has evolved so that virtual communication is just as, if not more effective than conventional communication methods.  Innovations like the internet are an opportunity to explore new ways to communicate and can create entirely new directions to take the way we conduct business.