How to Improve Team Decision-making on a Marketing Project

web design on monitor

Here’s a simple technique to define each person’s role

On a recent family vacation, I decided to be flexible about our plans to keep the family peace. Three people choosing one itinerary is tricky. But flexibility isn’t always an asset when you’re planning to launch a marketing project.

Starting a website design upgrade triggers an avalanche of questions.

“What should be included in the hero section on the homepage?”

“What should we say in our “About Us” page?”

“What is the most important benefit to mention first on the product page?”

“What color should the call-to-action buttons be?”

Answering questions like these are examples of “micro-decisions.” That’s what my friend & marketer calls them. You make one micro-decision, then it’s on to the next one. These small decisions add up. The sum? A tower of a big decision. 

You make multiple micro-decisions when you upgrade your website copy and design. Decision-making for one person takes time. You’re thinking and working through the options. 

Imagine if 12 people were weighing in on each micro-decision?

hands joined together

You need to establish this BEFORE you begin the project

Continue reading How to Improve Team Decision-making on a Marketing Project

A Month’s Experiment: Can a Non-Stop Talker’s Good Intention be Good Enough to Learn Empathic Listening?

recite-mb50iw

My youngest daughter is preparing for the elementary school’s science fair later this month. What she decided to do was related to the fried chicken we ate for dinner. She placed a chicken bone in a cup and poured in 100% pure white vinegar to the cup’s rim. The chicken bone is soaking for several weeks on the kitchen table to test her hypothesis of “Will the chicken bone become rubbery?” She checks the cup daily for changes.

You can smell the vinegar as one enters the kitchen. The vinegar/chicken bone aroma has spread to the family, living, and dining rooms in the house. It’s our special “after the holidays” home scent.

The aroma got me thinking about doing my own experiment this month. No, not rocket science or exploding soda liter bottles, although I enjoy viewing those experiments on YouTube. My experiment idea originated when I came across these words in Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Readers know I mention this book often, as it has some good ideas to live better.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply. They’re either speaking or preparing to speak.” Stephen R. Covey

Continue reading A Month’s Experiment: Can a Non-Stop Talker’s Good Intention be Good Enough to Learn Empathic Listening?