Versant Blog Center

Williams Bay Retreat

Being a young and single Millennial, my typical weekend consists of time with friends, an occasional watering hole, sports and housework. Last weekend, however, I was on a company retreat in Williams Bay with my co-workers. While there was no housework involved (we each had our own hotel-style dorm room) there was certainly no shortage of friends, fun and sports!

There were four key goals outlined for the Williams Bay Retreat:

1. Build esprit de corps (Honor the group):

   This was done through a myriad of team-building activities, a Saturday night bonfire, leisurely strolls along beautiful Williams Bay in Lake Geneva, and cheering on our beloved Badgers, Nancy's USC and my Arrowhead Warhawks.

2. Learn and teach:

   Agency life is busy and at times I find it difficult to know about all of the projects happening throughout the company. It was exciting for me to take part in breakout sessions that involved other aspects of the business, and to see department-specific presentations and exemplary work created by other Versant associates. We left asking ourselves how we can incorporate these great concepts into work for other clients.

3. Align associates to the goals of 2007:

   This was the primary goal for the retreat and I feel it was accomplished not only by way of bringing us together on the same page, but also by giving us even more reason to be excited about who we are and where we are heading as a company.

4. Have fun:

   We had a great time! If I could only explain to you the experience of being the karaoke DJ for performances like "Born to be Wild," "Copacabana" and "Turn the Page!"

This retreat was a great way for me to hone my own business acumen while, as a team, strengthen the Versant bond and get to know my fellow colleagues on a more personal level. It is experiences like these that make me grateful to work for a company like Versant that makes an effort to cultivate the skill sets and careers of its associates.

A Board Meeting Like No Other

Recently, I attended a board meeting for the non-profit group Neighborhood House serving residents and families of Milwaukee’s inner city by offering social, educational and recreational activities to improve the quality of life in the community.

I am a relatively new member of this organization and following each meeting, I come away with a greater understanding of the diverse cultural needs of Milwaukee. At this recent meeting, we were “educated” by Raejean Kanter, Executive Director of the Impact Fund for the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation. She and the Potawatomi leaders were very generous to our association and presented a check to our board in support of Neighborhood House.

Why was this meeting like no other?

Primarily because Raejean educated us about what she believes we need to know about Potawatomi’s growing engagement and commitment to the community. Raejean was genuine and a great teacher. I left with a much greater understanding and respect for the cultural impact of the Potawatomi and a greater appreciation for what their ancestors have done to develop our state.

Cultural diversity is a hot subject and a business imperative for each of us. But I, quite frankly, still have much to learn about the Native American community and this meeting was a terrific classroom. The upcoming Indian Summer Festival held at the Milwaukee lakefront is a great opportunity for continuing this education on American Indian traditions and culture, as well as a good time. I thank the Potawatomi and Raejean for their commitment to the community and interest in educating me and the board.

Focus on Customer

I started my career at age 16 with Sears as a sales associate. I include my five years with Sears as part of my professional career because working in the retail industry taught me some great lessons that I have since applied to my role in client services here at Versant. In retail, we were taught to focus on the customer – if there were people shopping in your department and no one had greeted them, you needed to get over there right away. If your department was empty, then you needed to be doing things to prepare for customers, such as straightening the merchandise, dusting and stocking the shelves and making sure the latest sale items were properly presented and priced. And we were held accountable for our actions – or lack thereof – when "secret shoppers" came to visit, anything less than a perfect 100 score wasn't good enough.

In our business now, focus on the customer is equally important. I think about my retail experience a lot because it translates directly to client service – when client e-mails, calls and requests come in, they need that same immediate attention as customers walking into our department at Sears. And every day, we're trying to make an impact with each client by doing the right things on their accounts and projects. If it's a quiet time, we try to share articles, ideas and events that will make that impact. My performance continues to be measured by customers, based on their feedback, the success of their projects and our annual Versant client satisfaction survey.

I'm grateful now for having that retail experience because it so shapes the work I do today. I also appreciate great retail service when I see it and become a little agitated when I don't, like when employees talk to each other rather than to customers. Both situations make me realize how important focus on customer has been for me, and I hope it can benefit today's retail workers in their future endeavors the same way.

Sharing the "Blue Ocean"

There's been a lot of conversation here lately about the book "Blue Ocean Strategy" by authors Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim. The basic premise of the book is to tell the reader how to achieve a business goal of staying out of the "red ocean" – the bloody, competitive, dog-eat-dog world of competing for the same business with the same business strategies as everyone else, and moving to the "blue ocean," a marketplace virtually free of competition. The idea is to create a product or service that is so unique and to do business so differently that you have virtually no competition.

At Versant, that's been the vision for several years now, as we've expanded from a traditional ad agency, selling what everyone else in the industry is selling, to a specialist in strategic advertising, interactive marketing, business-to-consumer, business-to-business and business-to-employee branding, that is focused to achieving measurable results based on a foundation of research. And as we've done this for ourselves, we've been able to help our clients do it as well.

I've been in marketing and advertising for more than 20 years, and in my experience, this is a sea change in the depth and breadth of business support offered to clients by marketing agencies. It has become the new core of our business, with traditional marketing tactics almost an addendum to that. For my healthcare clients who face an increasingly competitive and constantly changing landscape because of managed care, Medicare limits, Pay-for-Performance and changing-by-the-minute technology, it's crucial that we help them achieve their own "blue ocean strategy." And when we succeed, the impact on their business, and ours, is profound.

Abilene Anyone?

Do you enjoy feeling singled out by voicing disagreement in a group decision? If not, maybe you should just be a team player, be quiet and support the group. If you are familiar with the Abilene Paradox, you understand its disabling effect on group productivity. I first heard of this parable in a communications class back in college. At the time, I knew it only as a required subject for me to study before an exam. But now 10 years later as a working professional, I find that lesson increasingly relevant to my professional success.

The Abilene Paradox provides insight into group dynamics, human behavior and miscommunication. The phenomenon occurs when no member of a group is willing to voice an objection to a misguided group activity, although everyone in the group feels the activity is misguided. For many of us, working in groups or teams is a large part of our jobs. My experience has shown success in group activities is largely, if not completely, determined by how effective the group communicates.

It can be easy to fall victim to the Abilene Paradox by avoiding the risk of embarrassment or humiliation in group discussions. But when you are conscious of the unique communication roadblocks that exist, you are empowered to overcome them.

- Korre Johnson

Is Your Business in Alignment?

A growing focus in the study of organizations is contained in the concept of "Alignment."

This new focus can easily be understood through the analogy of taking in your car to have a "tune-up." Indeed, all the parts of the car are there in their place and not needing replacement; they function in such a way that the car does go, but are somewhat out of adjustment with the consequence of creating excessive cost and wear in their operation. The car gets its job done, but not in an efficient, effective way.

So too with companies.

From identifying a market's need of product, service or knowledge, through processing those deliverables to exceed the expectations of the clients, there isn't always alignment between all the "parts." Whether it's "job work" or "line work," the flow often becomes wearing, flawed and then interrupting by uneven or wrongly adjusted parts in the system.

So I ask you the question: Are your parts adjusted and of compatible quality for complementary interaction?

Dr. George A. Graham, Jr., Ph.D., is an Industrial Organizational Development Psychologist and member of the Versant Board of Advisors.

Great Ideas > Great Results

As a CFO/Partner at Versant, I am always looking for ideas to grow and improve business – that of our clients as well as our own. I'd like to share my learning from Mike Harris who spoke at a recent luncheon of the Association for Corporate Growth. Mr. Harris has started a number of companies, including Jefferson Wells, one of the most successful start-ups in Wisconsin history.

Mr. Harris stressed that whatever your business, have a clearly-defined focus and "stick to your knitting." We are more likely to succeed when we focus to those things we know and do best. Our people and the culture we create in our businesses are key factors for success and we should do all that we can to select great people and set high standards. This will differentiate your business as a high-quality provider. Success also requires growth, so look for new ways to play in your existing markets by expanding services, creating new niches and growing organically.

Mr. Harris also reminded us of something that we have found to be true at Versant, namely the importance of drawing on the knowledge and experience of outside advisors.

To me, that's simple, sound and effective advice that we can all profit from.