How to Predict Success Using Workshops

Today I’m thinking about workshops, and what they can tell you about the success or failure of a project.  A former colleague approached me recently about running some technology deployment workshops for his current employer. The goal of these workshops is similar to those we had collaborated on before: to allow new customers to maximize the value of the technology they had just purchased.  In actual fact, these kinds of workshops have very little to do with maximizing technology, and a great deal to do with facilitating the discussion of how this new technology would change the customer’s operations.  Yes, that dreaded term, “process change management”.

I started remembering how, after a few of these workshops, it became easy to tell whether the attendees were just going through the motions as prescribed by senior management or truly committed to a successful deployment.

Stakeholder attendance: for me this is the single most telling indication of senior management commitment and interest, also known as, imperative to succeed. If there are VPs or CXO level managers at the table, it’s a good sign.  It sends the message down the ranks that this is a serious, strategic undertaking that the executives are monitoring closely.  If there is a cross-section of departments represented, it’s also a good sign because process change rarely happens in a vacuum and you want to be dealing with people who recognize this.

For example, if a field service group changes the way they troubleshoot on-site, there are implications for the technical support people who take the trouble call; there may be a requirement for product development to include or invent new features that support the new procedures; product management may need to review pricing structure for both product and support; sales may need to learn about the new service offering.  These groups need to be part of the discussion; quite often, they are the ones to contribute the most effective issues and solutions by filling in the missing pieces of the knowledge puzzle.

Workshop size: I’d rather have a small, focused group than a classroom size group of managers. The dynamics of a large group tend to turn it from a workshop to a lecture; people are less inclined to join in the conversation and more self-conscious about offering up ideas.  If the workshop is made up of decision-makers from each affected department, the ones who normally phone each other when glitches happen, it works much better.

Leadership, not cost savings: companies often use cost savings to justify the purchase because there is a pro forma to go through.  This happens even when the decision-makers can see that the technology will allow their business to take a leadership position and leap ahead of the competition.  When this is the case, it always comes out during the workshops.  Then I know that there is a champion or two who will drive adoption of the technology and come up with creative new solutions that get everyone so excited that the group will come to consensus on how to implement the basics (cost-savings, efficiency) just to get to a point where they are able to make that big leap.

Follow-up: During a workshop, I like to document the tasks that need follow-up after the workshop, and have members of the workshop volunteer or be volunteered for those tasks.  I don’t even need to check back 30 days later.  The responsiveness of the group says it all, as does the enthusiasm of the person who owns the project – how will he/she drive the process to execute on the plans?

If there is consensus on goals, priorities and requirements, then technical and operational planning become simple; which features to deploy and when, what are the logistics that need to happen, what are the internal and external communications programmes?

Sales carries a quota: in cases where the technology will impact the end-customer, and there are benefits to the company in having high customer adoption (of the new technology or service offering), if the sales executive is willing to have his/her team carry a quota or get bonuses based on adoption, it’s one of the best omens for success.

In conclusion:

The title of this blog is somewhat tongue-in-cheek because is it really possible 100% of the time to use a workshop to gauge the success of a new program or technology?  After all, a lukewarm campaign can find new life and a sizzling start can fizzle out.

With a technical audience, it’s hard to bill a workshop as “process change management”.  It can be technology deployment, it can be project planning, it can be road map prioritization, anything but those dread words “process change”.  So when the right people show up, play nice, and figure this out for themselves – it’s a good omen for project success.  It’s not a substitute for formal change management procedures, but it starts things down the right path because the most important ingredient for project success isn’t the technology, it’s the people.

A Light-hearted Trade Show Promo

When you win a customer in Hawaii, it’s like having your promo theme handed to you on a silver platter! When I found out that Dynacore Equipment’s newest customer is based in Honolulu, it seemed pretty clear how we could leverage this at the PCI Conference (PreCast Concrete Institute) in September to capture the attention of prospects, and have some fun as well — trade shows can be pretty tedious.

It’s an uneasy time for the industry, and we know that manufacturers are hurting.  This is an opportunity to show the market that despite the downturn, Dynacore is solid, doing well, and even acquiring major new customers; oh and by the way — if you want to visit a reference site, there’s now one in Hawaii.

Before Dynacore shipped out the hollowcore extruders to Hawaii, we dressed them up in (admittedly tacky) Hawaiian decorations and did a photo shoot.  My favorite design team at Honeycomb Creative made up a post card we are mailing out to conference attendees.  “We can’t send you to Hawaii, but we can send Hawaii to you”.  The offer is: come to the Dynacore booth for a chance to win a Hawaiian gift basket worth more than $100, shipped to your home.  Dynacore has even agreed to ship the tacky Hawaiian decorations with the trade show booth, to continue the theme while we are there.  Fun, but making a point.

Hey, I Got Quoted by an Industry Pundit!

Normally the feature stories on the Microsoft Research website don’t make it off the website.  But everything in life is timing, and this story about the Gazelle browser received major coverage from blogs and industry pundits because speculation about Google chrome is rife and therefore anything coming out of Microsoft, even a research prototype, is fodder for rumour.

I especially want to point out my favorite mention of the article, from a blog by Mary Jo Foley, industry pundit and Microsoft-watcher.  In it she says:

I’ve had Gazelle (the project which started out as “MashupOS”) explained to me a couple of times, but I never quite understood it. The new Microsoft-authored article, however, actually helped me understand more about where Microsoft is going with this project.

Yes! This is exactly the sort of response I want from clients and readers – complex subjects rendered easy to understand.

Research Projects Make Good Stories

There are more than 800 researchers working at six Microsoft Research labs around the world and lab directors want to recruit the world’s top PhDs.  One of the goals of the Microsoft Research website is to provide content that attracts the talent they hope to hire and also provide the general technology audience with a look at how Microsoft is advancing the state of the art.  Each week the site features a story about a research project and the people who have worked on the project. 

In terms of sheer, brain-churning difficulty, these feature stories have been the most challenging assignments in my career.  The preparation work always makes me wish I had paid more attention to Cmpt 405 back at university.  Was that Algorithm Analysis or maybe it was Computational Linguistics? 

Imagine reading through a research paper (or three) written by computing science PhDs for other PhDs, then interviewing the researchers and hoping your questions do not seem too inane.  Then imagine writing a story for a general audience that properly describes the goals of the research, the technical challenges, and the way it might impact existing or future technologies. 

This work has provided exciting glimpses into the future and given me far more appreciation of the “magic” that we take for granted in all the technology that we use.

Here is a list of some stories I wrote for the Microsoft Research website.

Building Green Supercomputers

Datacenters were responsible for 1.2 percent of the United States’ electricity usage in 2005, or the equivalent of five nuclear power plants. This is an increase of 100 percent from 2000.  At current growth rates, by 2020 the carbon footprint of datacenters will surpass that of the aviation industry. SiCortex is in the business of green high productivity computing (HPC), with desk side systems that draw less power than a PC, up to supercomputers that can compete with a Cray for processing speed, but which take up a single, self-contained cabinet and need only a single 3-phase plug. 

This innovative start up had been successful selling to universities, research labs and government facilities by talking technology;  they realized that their sales cycles could be easier if they could talk to lab IT managers about cost savings.  They needed a white paper that addressed the total cost of operations of running a HPC facility and explained how SiCortex and its low-power architecture could reduce lab computing costs by more than 60 percent annually.   

The interesting thing about this assignment was that many of their technical papers and data sheets contained references to business value, but the information had not been consolidated into a single document that built a business case addressing total cost of ownership; the data was there, the optics were not. 

 SiCortex is also actively working with industry groups to define a “green index” for computing and is working with experts to make the Green Computing Performance Index (GCPI) a standard for comparing energy efficiency for HPC.  In addition to price performance, SiCortex hopes to make performance-per-kWatt an essential metric for buyers.  This white paper evangelizes the need for such a performance index and is aimed at manufacturers of computer systems and components.

Shakespeare Does Software

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival puts on more than ten shows a year in three theaters over a season that begins in February and ends in November.  One reason this respected theatre company can do so much is because their IT department has developed innovative software for stagecraft.  The Festival wanted to share their technology advantage with the theater community and decided to take their software to market, with the goal of launching the first application at USITT, the largest theater stagecraft conference in the US.  The first solution to be packaged as a product was lighting software that controlled the moving lights (intelligent fixtures) on stage.  But they had never launched a software product before.

I took on the role of product manager pro bono.  It’s good to support the arts, and it was also a chance to do something totally different.

Working with a small team of developers and one IT manager, we defined a list of deliverables to have ready before USITT.  They had decisions to make about pricing, licensing policy and product road map.  They needed marketing communications materials to take to the show, a product demo, and a website. And very importantly for a team that felt nervous because they had never worked a trade show before, they needed booth training. 

We did all of this on a shoestring.  The team went to USITT in March 2009 and caused a sensation.  Reports are that the novice booth bunnies did a great job at their first trade show. 

The next challenge: setting up a sales organization!

Marketing a Research Lab

Attracting the best research talent in the computing world is a competitive business; Microsoft Research Silicon Valley wanted a brochure about their lab that would help their recruiting efforts.  After some telephone conferences to establish the scope of the project, I met with the director and assistant director of the lab to establish the correct tone and messages for the brochure. 

They emphasized the culture of collaboration at the lab, reflected in everything from building design and décor to flexible office hours.  They also wanted to make it clear that Microsoft Research puts a priority on advancing the state of the art in computing research for the industry overall, not just for Microsoft. 

A few things became clear over the course of the day.  First, that the most compelling words a potential candidate could read about the work environment at Microsoft Research Silicon Valley are words from another researcher. Next, that we would need several photographs of the lab to properly convey how every gathering spot in the building was also equipped to support discussions and brainstorming.  I interviewed a number of researchers and we took some photos.  The result was  a brochure with photos and quotes that conveyed a positive and accurate image of the lab’s working environment.

A Good Product Video Works Hard

Today I am reflecting on the many ways a good product video has contributed to Dynacore Equipment’s marketing success. 

Working with video clips supplied by Dynacore, I created a script, and with help from the production team at BaseTwo Media, we delivered a 5-minute video (in English and Spanish versions) that highlights Dynacore’s low cost of operations and maintenance. The company has been pushing a total-cost-of-ownership message, because if customers do the math, Dynacore’s low consumables costs beats the competition hands-down. 

How has this video been working for Dynacore? 

More effective trade show presence: some manufacturers in this industry are big enough to ship huge machines to trade shows. This is something Dynacore wants to avoid. With this video, Dynacore can ship just a couple of machine components and still demonstrate the operational features of the hollowcore extrusion system by showing the video.

More effective response to phone and email enquiries: again, this is an engineering-centric industry.  They want to see machines in action. Posting the video on the Dynacore website allows them to send a link to the prospect. 

Better channel support: with agents in Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Far East, sales support can be challenging.  With DVD versions of the product video, agents are able to show the machines in action — and  very importantly, in action at various Dynacore customer sites.  A video proves that the machines are real, installed, and working.

Unexpectedly, this turned out to be a valuable educational tool. Dynacore has been working with an agent in Mexico for a few years now, and one of their managers said to me, “Now I really understand what makes these machines better than all the others”.

Better industry presence: all Dynacore ads now mention that there is a video on their website.  Also, the premier trade publication for the pre-cast concrete industry is CPI; it has set up a promotional video area on their website. Dynacore is one of the few hollowcore machinery manufacturers to submit a quality video to the site.

Of course the video is only one element of an integrated marketing program for Dynacore.  But you know your messaging is making an impact when the competition starts putting out ads about their low operations costs!

< Click here to watch the video!

Helping Network Managers Sell to Business Managers

Strangeloop Networks is a start up that builds acceleration appliances that automatically optimize web applications in real time without the need to add code to the website or make infrastructure changes to the network.  Stangeloop’s appliances dramatically improve user response times, increase application performance and server throughput, and reduce bandwidth requirements.

The small marketing team lacked content development resources.  They needed better sales tools because their target customer was no longer the technical pioneer enthusiast – they were now selling to larger companies who needed business justification, and needed collaterals to help their champions (the network managers) make the business case to line of business managers. 

I wrote two white papers that highlighted how a slow website could impact business, especially for e-tailers.  The first white paper required finding data – reports, statistics and analyses – that could quantify the cost of downtime and poor response time.  To accompany the white paper, I also developed a spreadsheet that could be used as a sales tool to help customers calculate the cost of lost business opportunities and open up business level discussions.  In keeping with Strangeloop’s new strategy of selling to business managers, I also updated their web site content to emphasize business benefits rather than technology.

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