Posts Tagged ‘corporate culture’

With all the hiring we’re doing right now, my team decided that we better revisit all of our orientation guides. Orientations work like this at Matrix Group:  we ask staff members from all teams to help with the orientation; we give them an outline and they do the session.  Spreading the orientation schedule around means we cover more in a short period of time and new staff get introduced to all teams in a more meaningful way.

When we started reviewing our existing guides, we found that the majority of them were too sparse. If you were lucky enough to do orientation with an earnest old-timer, you got lucky; otherwise, lots of things were missed.

So a bunch of sat down, revisited topics, and came up with 2-4 page guides for each topic.  Each topic has a sub-topic and talking points + specific things to cover.  The guides are working out very, very well.

One new thing we decided to create is a “Matrix Underground” guide, or the things you should know but nobody every tells you. We realized that it’s things on this guide that tend to trip people up or leave people bewildered.  For example, there are expressions that we expect people to know, acronyms,  and Joanna-isms that a person could take years to figure out.

Most things on the guide are funny, but some are dead serious.  Some examples:

• Sumner is the part-timer on the MatrixMaxx team who works in the afternoons (recent hires said they spent six months trying to figure out who the heck Sumner is).
• When Joanna says “can you do me a favor?” or “I need something from you,” it means “she needs something done NOW, not tomorrow, not next week, now.”
• When someone says “the cheese has moved,” it refers to the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” that we read as a company several years ago and it means “dude, the situation has changed, let’s move along and get over it.”

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• Tags: corporate culture, Matrix Group

Whenever Matrix Group flies Creative Director Alex Pineda to the DC area (from San Francisco, where he is based), he asks to fly Virgin America.  Alex says the Virgin flying experience is “superior to other airlines.” Last week, I got to experience why Alex likes Virgin so much.

For my son’s Spring Break, my family spent a week in San Francisco and we flew round trip on Virgin America.  After two flights, I am a total fan, so much so that I told my husband that from now on, whenever possible, we will fly Virgin.

Just what makes the Virgin America user experience so different?

Virgin America doesn’t use different or larger planes.  The airfare was comparable to other airlines when I was booking on Orbitz.  We had to pay $20 to check our bags.  The legroom on the plane wasn’t more than on other planes I’ve flown recently.  The food and alcohol weren’t free.  And I didn’t get a blanket or pillow.

What made Virgin America different was the entertainment and how food and beverage were dispensed.

• The beverage carts only  made one pass through the plane.  But for the rest of the 5+ hour flight, if we wanted food or drink, we used our touch screens to place an order.  If I wanted water, I touched water and a flight attendant came by within minutes with a bottle of water – for free.  When my son wanted cookies, chocolate or a sandwich, I swiped my credit card, and the flight attendant came by with his order.  So for the entire flight, instead of just the couple of times the carts come around, we had access to food and beverages.
• There was Wi-Fi on the plan! For about $8, I could get wi-fi and check e-mail and surf the Web!  Unbelievable!  And each seat had regular AC power so I could keep my laptop plugged in during the whole flight!
• I loved the free Dish Network. No kidding, I caught an NCIS marathon the way to SF and a House marathon on the way back.  Truly decadent!

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• Tags: corporate culture, customer service, leadership

For the past few years, I’ve had the honor and pleasure of chairing a benefit auction for Doorways for Women and Families, a non-profit that helps women and children who are homeless and/or victims of domestic violence in the Northern VA area.  This year, despite the recession, the silent auction was the best ever, featuring more items, valued at higher levels, than ever before.

I want to offer a great, big, heartfelt THANK YOU to all the businesses that supported the auction. What strikes me about the list of donors is that the vast, vast majority are small businesses.  Once again, they answered the call when we asked them to support a worthy cause, despite the awful economy. And once again, they came through in a big way.

Abaca Imports, my favorite furniture store in the world, once again donated two Asian-inspired lamps.  Salon DeZen, where I get my hair cut every couple of months, donated a haircut and facial.  Signature Theater donated 2 subscriptions to their 2010-2011 season.  Marrakesh Restaurant donated dinner for 10.  Rosenthal Jaguar donated the rental of a 2010 Jaguar for the weekend.  Liberty Tavern donated a progressive dinner for 6.  Thrive Pilates and Yoga donated ten classes.  Amber Association Partners donated two front-row tickets to see the Wizards.  And on, and on.  (You can view the entire, amazing list on the Doorways Web site.)

Matrix Group works with several, prominent trade associations representing small businesses.  If there’s one message that resonates constantly, it’s this:  small businesses are a vital part of our communities because they are more likely to support local charities and groups. As one exec put it:  You never see a big box retailer’s name on the uniform of the local little league team; it’s always a small, local business that put up the money.
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• Tags: corporate culture, Economy

I’m watching the Women’s Downhill competition during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics this evening.   I saw several women crash on the course, their Olympics dreams and year of preparation, go up in smoke.  Business books are full of sports analogies, but for my part, I’m glad that the world of business is not really like the Olympics.  Here’s how:

The Olympics are for the Young

Although there are a few 30-something and 40-something athletes, the Olympics are dominated by elite competitors in their teens and 20s. After a dozen years of competing, their careers are over. I’m grateful that after 18 years in the online business, I still have many years ahead of me. Perhaps I’m a late bloomer, but I feel like it’s really only in the last five years that I’ve really hit my stride and seen Matrix Group really thrive and expand.

In Business, Teams Rule!

Although there are a few relay races, the Olympics are dominated by the talents and achievements of individuals. In business, you can’t complete projects of any significant size and scope without a team effort. Take any redesign project at Matrix Group; these projects involve a project manager, an information architect, multiple designers, at least one front-end developer, at least one developer, and at least one tester. The work of one person affects every other team member and if one team members screws up, the whole project is threatened.

In Business, You Want a Lot of Winners

It’s easy to compare the world of sales with the Olympics: lots of competitors, one winner. But I would argue that the true race or competition begins once the sale has been made and implementation begins. Paradoxically, at this stage, you don’t want any losers. You want the client, the vendor, the third party partners, and the customers to all win with whatever widget, Web site or product you are building. Read the rest of this entry

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• Tags: corporate culture, Matrix Group, software development

I was arranging lunch with a vendor and suggested Kora, the hip, new Italian restaurant in Crystal City.  I wanted to e-mail my contact Kora’s address, phone number and a link to a Google map.  Alas, the entire Kora site is in Flash, which is beautiful, but it’s not very user-friendly.  The biggest problem?  I can’t copy and paste the contact info to include in an e-mail and  paste into Google Maps.  I know, I know, it’ s not a big deal to retype the address, but I’m a picky consumer.  I want to be able to copy and paste easily.  Even better, I’d love a way to share the address page or just click on a map.

This got me to thinking.  What are all the ways, big and little, that we make it difficult for our customers and potential customers to do business with us? Consider these examples.

• A few years ago, my husband and I were shopping around for a mortgage.  I called three bankers.  One was only available between 7am and 3pm.  Another sent me 20 pages to fill out about our assets.  The third asked me when it would be convenient to call (7pm), asked me to send bank and 401(k) statements so that he could fill out all the paperwork.  Guess who got the business?  At that point, I knew each banker would give us a competitive rate, but Craig Miller from BF Saul made it easy for us to work with him.
• During the planning for our office move, I called several vendors about office furniture systems.  One never called back.  One asked me to send her the architect’s drawings and information on what we wanted (I didn’t yet know what we wanted so I didn’t call back.)  The third, Michelle Ferrari from Office Images, offered to come by with catalogs, look at the architect’s drawings with me and discuss our needs.  There was no contest.
• I called a company to get a reference for someone applying for a job at Matrix Group.  It took me 3 tries before I could figure out how to leave a message in the general mailbox.  I couldn’t even imagine calling as a prospective customer.
• I’ve had a relationship with Insurance Designers for a very long time.  Every time I have a question, I call or e-mail Neal or Wendy Cohen and they get back to me promptly.  One time, Matrix Group was applying for some new type of insurance and Neal’s office sent over a very long questionnaire, which I couldnot figure out.  I called Neal and he said, “don’t worry about it, let’s fill it out over the phone.”  I love the guy.

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• Tags: corporate culture, customer service, marketing, Matrix Group, Sales

On my way to work this morning, I heard a story on NPR about how immigrants to this country have adopted the Thanksgiving tradition and made it their own.  A Greek chef talked about how his mother made a Thanksgiving turkey but every other dish during the meal was Greek.  The story reminded me of the importance of traditions.

We tend to think of traditions as part of our personal and family lives.  But if we look closely, most companies have traditions as well and they bind staff to the company and to each other. Here at Matrix Group, over the past ten years, we’ve amassed a set of traditions.  These traditions include: a pumpkin carving contest during Halloween, funny awards and a white elephant exchange during our holiday party, pie during the June birthday celebration, naming each server after a Star Wars character, and creating a special glass after an especially important launch. Read the rest of this entry

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• Tags: corporate culture, Matrix Group

A few years ago, Matrix Group was looking for a Network Administrator. We had been looking for 18 months with no success.  The situation was bleak. The candidates coming in were awful, my team was overworked and desperate to make a hire, and recruiters were failing us miserably.

Then I attended a presentation by Barry Deutsch, CEO of Impact Hiring Solutions, an executive search firm.  Barry’s presentation had such an impact on me and my company that Barry Deutsch is now a verb at Matrix Group.

When a job announcement is not pulling in the candidates we need, I tell my staff to “Barry Deutsch” the description.

Barry says that the top hiring mistakes companies make are:

• Failing to define the job properly, i.e., not defining what will represent success in the job.
• Falling victim to first impressions, i.e., the candidate looks good, talks well, she must be terrific.
• Desperation hiring, i.e., making an offer because you think it’s better to hire someone, anyone.
• Not asking deep and penetrating questions during the interview. This happens because managers don’t know how to conduct success-based interviews or lob softballs at the candidate because they “like” them.
• Failing to check references deeply. Many companies skip reference checks or don’t properly validate the claims by candidates. And if a candidate can’t provide references, RUN!

Ultimately, we all want to hire and retain top talent.  Here is what Barry has to say about top talent: Read the rest of this entry

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• Tags: corporate culture, Matrix Group, Recruiting

When we moved to our new office in Crysta City, it meant reprinting all of our marketing materials.  While it was simply a matter of updating and reprinting most of our collateral, we decided to redesign our business cards.  Matrix Group Creative Director Alex Pineda wanted to update the design with the refreshed logo and show some more personality.

Here are some sample cards that demonstrate what we were trying to achieve.

Here’s my card.  The front is purple so it’s easy to find on a cluttered desk or stack o cards.  The corners are curved because Alex says the Matrix Group brand is curvey, node-y.  The prominent elements are my name and title and the company Web address.  You’ll also notice that my card has all the ways you can contact me:  phone, fax, e-mail, blog and Twitter.

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• Tags: corporate culture, Design, marketing, Matrix Group

Last Wednesday afternoon, I was harried and stressed.  I was leaving for a conference on the West Coast. and if I didn’t leave the office by 2:30pm, the drive to BWI was not going to be pretty.  But I had two people to call, five e-mails to write, three people to see and it was already 2pm.  I decided to delegate a couple of the tasks to Ray, my new biz manager.  Just at that moment, he walked into my office and I said, “oh, thank goodness you’re here.”  Without missing a beat, Ray deadpanned, “You’re surprised I’m here?  I’m always here.  I work for you.  My office is next door.  I thought you designed it that way.”

With those few words, Ray turned my afternoon around. All my tension slipped away as I burst out laughing.  I gave him a couple of calls to return, promised to make calls from the taxi, and headed on my way.

If you Google “sense of humor in the workplace,” you’ll get all kinds of posts about how humor is often NOT appropriate in the workplace.  But I challenge anyone to tell me their dry, humorless office is a great place to work. Personally, I don’t think I would have survived the early MatrixMaxx software releases without Tanya’s dry sense of humor.  And Eric made the recent recruiting process for a Project Manager enjoyable with his hilarious stories from working in a casino.  Thankfully, at least one blogger, Elaine Ambrose, says that “(a) sense of humor will save your job and probably your life.” Read the rest of this entry

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• Tags: corporate culture, Matrix Group

I was working with a prospect recently and lamenting to my team that the organization felt like a bunch of stovepipes, with the VPs competing for resources and influence.  I said something along the lines of “Arrgh, this organization is too small to be so silo’d!”

Then it hit me: the company had gone through a fairly large downsizing recently.  The corporate culture was one I was more likely to find in a much larger organization because the culture had not adjusted to the new realities of the smaller organization!  Ick. Read the rest of this entry

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• Tags: corporate culture, leadership, Matrix Group