With the start of the new school year, business professionals in Quebec are preparing their action plan for the coming year. The past two years of upheaval have forced organizations to rethink their priorities. According to the trend review we conducted at Formations Infopresse, communication, marketing or development of skills related to “know-how” are the issues that you will have to overcome in the coming months, whether you are a manager or an employee.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
Communication: get back to basics
All organizations are buried by the same issue: communication channels are expanding while attention spans are shrinking. Results ? The gap is widening, external and internal customers are disengaging. No matter the department or the objective, today’s challenge is to get back to basics. How ? By rethinking approaches to create useful and relevant content. Try to summarize the history of your organization in 50 words rather than 500 or 5000. You will see the challenge that this represents. At present, the only winning outcome is simplicity, precision, conciseness. However, too many organizations seek at all costs to shine the spotlight on their actions, rather than highlighting the only real star of any engaging and effective communication: those to whom they are addressed. Professionals who will be able to do well over the next few years will have relearned how to replace, modify and oil their communication mechanics.
Outsmart new competition and find your purpose
Customers hold tremendous decision-making power over the products and services offered to them relentlessly, from waking up to sleeping. We talk about products and services, let’s also talk about ideas, concepts, pitches, funding requests. The challenge ? Actuate all imaginable levers of influence to reach the minds and hearts of these consumers, potential business partners or civic communities. The creation of strategic content, the exploitation of data, media strategies, public and media relations, business development, the art of pitch and that of negotiation require both human and tactical skills. Knowing yourself is the key to better understanding others. Better understanding others is the basis for standing out, transforming behaviors and above all, creating a clear positioning, then drawing the outlines of an environment of trust, conducive to lasting support.
Digital marketing: be in the action rather than in the pressure
Imagine the following scene: in the early morning, a team of construction workers arrives at the site of a new residential tower. Each person is enthusiastic, has a lot of willpower and has a solid reputation in their field of expertise. Only a few minutes later, everyone finds that only half of the tools are available. Transposed into a digital environment, it is crucial to master the implementation of concrete plans, then to have the best instruments, if not the best resources, to build promising and profitable strategies. Social media, web 3.0, SEO, digital campaign tools, website redesign, automation, data mining: once mastered, digital marketing is the most fabulous toolbox to bring your aspirations to life.
Cope with even more limited budgets and resources
Are you tired of “inspiring” conferences and videos unrelated to your reality on the ground and your (small) budget? In Quebec, the majority of organizations juggle with limited resources and budgets. This observation requires doing things differently: like identifying and then seizing the best solutions, having the ability to maneuver adequately, without too much damage, through the dizzying field of possibilities. Map the resources and tools at your fingertips. Identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Do some real soul-searching. Once your organizational shortcomings have been identified, in a micro (eg enriching the user experience of a transactional page) and macro (eg improving the know-how of your resources) way, take action.
Find a new beat
The balance in the reorganization of work, among other things due to the direct and collateral effects of COVID-19, always seems more complex and precarious. Including in terms of creativity and innovation. The management of priorities, departures (retirement, exhaustion, greener grass at the neighbor’s) affect operational processes (if they exist!). They also affect continuous improvement processes and the ability to assess their relevance and question their level of performance. How, as a professional, achieve operational fluidity? By automating certain practices, including light but repetitive tasks. Also, collaboration, the use of certain tools, learning new management skills (operations, change, time, priorities), the quality of internal communications and the ability to delegate.
Develop your career and skills
Having a job is one thing, keeping it is another. Once these assets are consolidated, how can you go beyond this base? How to advance your career, including in the organization where you evolve? Good news, leadership can be learned. Gain confidence too. Mobilize and progress in benevolence and collaboration, too. Authenticity, inspiration, influence, conversion from employee to manager, collaboration, development of new skills, accompaniment, time and priority management, as well as the ability to maneuver with finesse in the art of negotiation, are all essential lessons to take advantage of these changes.